Apple executives have given an internal talk about potentially bidding on the baffling AI startup, Bloomberg News reported Friday that they cited people with knowledge of the matter.
The discussion is early on and may not lead to an offer, the report said, adding that the tech giant's executives have not discussed the bid with Perplexity's management.
“We have no knowledge of current or future M&A discussions with confusion,” the confusion said in response to a request for comment from Reuters.
Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Large tech companies are doubling their investments to boost AI capabilities and support the growing demand for AI-powered services, and maintain competitive leadership in a rapidly evolving technological environment.
Bloomberg News reported Friday that the meta platform had tried to buy the bewilderment earlier this year.
Exclusive: Apple executives have been having internal discussions about the possibility of bidding on AI for AI, trying to address the need for more AI talent and technology https://t.co/cdtqgh8hzd
– Bloomberg (@business) June 20, 2025
Meta announced a $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI last week, hiring Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead the new Superintelligence unit.
Adrian Perica, head of Apple's mergers and acquisitions, weighed ideas with Services chief Eddy Cue and Top AI decision makers, according to the report.
The iPhone maker is reportedly planning to integrate AI-driven search capabilities (such as Perplexity AI) into the Safari browser, which could potentially escaping Alphabet's long-standing partnership with Google.
The ban on paid companies by Google to create a default search engine is one of the remedies proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice to divide control in online search.
New: Apple executives are having internal discussions about the potential for AI bidding for AI startups to bewildered, and are trying to address the need for more AI talent and technology – https://t.co/1wskpcew05
– Markgarman (@markgurman) June 20, 2025
While traditional search engines such as Google still dominate global market share, AI-powered search options, including Prplexity and ChatGPT, stand out for user adoption, especially among younger generations.
According to Bloomberg News, Perplexity recently completed a funding round that valued it at $14 billion. A close deal is Apple's biggest acquisition so far.
NVIDIA-backed startups, like Openai's ChatGpt and Google's Gemini, offer AI search tools that provide users with an overview of the information.
