Apple Inc. has reportedly held early-stage internal talks about the possibility of acquiring Perplexity, a fast-rising artificial intelligence startup valued at $14 billion, according to Bloomberg News. The deliberations, which involved Apple’s head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, alongside top executives like Eddy Cue, are part of the tech giant’s broader strategy to deepen its AI capabilities. However, the report emphasized that no official approach has been made to Perplexity’s management, and the deal remains speculative at this point.
Perplexity, which offers AI-driven search tools similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, has denied knowledge of any ongoing or upcoming acquisition talks. Apple also declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters. The discussions come at a time when major tech firms are aggressively investing in artificial intelligence to secure a stronghold in the rapidly evolving digital space, with a surge in demand for AI-powered tools and services.
In a related development, Meta Platforms was also said to have made an acquisition attempt for Perplexity earlier this year, as revealed by Bloomberg. Meta recently announced a massive $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI and brought on board its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to spearhead its new superintelligence unit. These moves highlight the intensifying competition among Big Tech firms to dominate the AI frontier, especially as regulatory pressures mount on established players like Google.
Apple’s interest in Perplexity is seen as part of its long-term plan to integrate generative AI into its products, notably in the Safari browser, which could signify a strategic shift away from its longstanding partnership with Google. The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed measures to reduce Google’s dominance in online search, including banning payments to make it the default search engine. As AI-powered platforms gain popularity, especially among younger users, tech giants like Apple are exploring ways to keep pace with changing user preferences and technological trends.