Apple executives have held preliminary internal discussions about a possible acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, according to Bloomberg News, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
The conversations are said to be in the early stages and may not result in a formal bid. So far, Apple has not initiated any talks with Perplexity’s management, the report noted.
In response to an inquiry from Reuters, Perplexity stated, “We have no knowledge of any current or future M&A discussions involving Perplexity.” Apple declined to comment.
Tech giants are aggressively investing in AI to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, seeking to boost their capabilities and capitalize on surging demand for AI-powered tools.
Bloomberg also reported that Meta Platforms made an attempt to acquire Perplexity earlier this year. Last week, Meta announced a $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI and appointed its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead a new superintelligence division.
At Apple, the idea of pursuing Perplexity has reportedly been discussed by Adrian Perica, the company’s head of mergers and acquisitions, along with services chief Eddy Cue and other key AI leaders.
Apple is said to be exploring ways to integrate AI-powered search technologies—like those offered by Perplexity—into its Safari browser. Such a move could signal a shift away from its long-standing search partnership with Google, which is currently under antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Department of Justice has proposed banning Google from paying companies to make it the default search engine as part of efforts to curb its dominance.
While Google remains the dominant player in global search, AI-driven alternatives like Perplexity and ChatGPT are gaining popularity, especially among younger users.
Perplexity recently completed a funding round valuing the company at $14 billion, Bloomberg said. An acquisition at or near that valuation would mark Apple’s largest deal to date.
Backed by Nvidia, Perplexity offers AI-based search tools that summarize information for users in real time—positioning it as a competitor to services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
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