Apple has reportedly held internal discussions about a potential acquisition of Perplexity, an artificial intelligence search startup backed by SoftBank. The discussions are still at an early stage, and no official offer has been made, reports Bloomberg. However, neither Apple nor Perplexity has issued any public confirmation regarding the talks.
Meanwhile, as per the report, the conversations have involved key Apple executives, including Eddy Cue (who oversees Apple’s services division) and Adrian Perica (the company’s vice president of corporate development). Also, AI-focused leaders within Apple have been involved in these early-stage considerations. But no formal offer has been extended to Perplexity, and the startup’s leadership has not been directly involved in the talks.
This comes as some recently emerged reports suggest that Meta (the parent firm of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) held early talks about acquiring Perplexity before ultimately shifting its focus to Scale AI. While the discussions never resulted in a deal, it remains unclear whether Meta walked away or Perplexity declined the offer. Instead, the social media giant went on to invest $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI. Also, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang joined Meta to help lead its AI data strategy.
Founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, and Johnny Ho, the San Francisco-headquartered Perplexity offers a new kind of AI-powered search engine that blends conversational response and real-time web data, along with source links. The company claims it processed around 780 million queries in May 2025 alone. Even amid stiff competition from major players like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google, the startup has extended its services, adding tools for internal file searches and finance-related features.
Additionally, the company is developing its own browser, Comet, to compete directly with established browsers like Chrome and Safari. The latest potential development becomes more significant as the AI startup is reportedly close to raising $500 million in a new funding round, possibly increasing its valuation to $14 billion.
Apple’s interest in Perplexity appears to be part of a broader plan to strengthen its position in the AI sector. The company has long relied on Google Search, reportedly earning an estimated $20Bn annually through a deal that makes Google the default on Apple devices. But with that agreement now facing legal challenges in the US, the tech titan may need an alternative. And acquiring Perplexity could give it more control over AI and search across iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
This potential deal would also boost Apple’s AI development, especially as the company faces continued challenges and regulatory pressure in this area. Recently, Apple was reportedly hit with a shareholder lawsuit alleging it misled investors about the readiness of its AI features, including ‘Apple Intelligence’ and improvements to Siri. The lawsuit claims that the iPhone maker overstated its progress during the June 2024 WWDC, despite not having a working prototype ready for the iPhone 16. The lawsuit came after Apple’s stock dropped 25% since December 2024, causing a $900 billion loss in value and possibly costing the company billions in damages to investors.
