Why Apple is eyeing Perplexity AI
Apple’s boardroom has been buzzing about a deal that could reshape its entire AI strategy. The iPhone maker, whose stock has slipped about 20% this year, needs a spark to revive investor confidence. A Perplexity AI buyout would give Apple an instant, battle‑tested search engine that talks back, cites sources, and runs on top‑tier language models like GPT‑4.1 and Claude.
Integrating that tech into Siri could finally close the gap with rivals that already bundle LLMs into voice assistants. Right now Siri’s upgrades are stuck in a 2026 rollout plan, but a Perplexity partnership would let Apple ship smarter answers tomorrow. Moreover, regulators could force Apple to drop Google’s search partnership; owning Perplexity would hand the company a ready‑made alternative without a costly rebuild.
Apple’s M&A chief Adrian Perica has reportedly met with Perplexity’s founders several times, and Eddy Cue’s team is reportedly weighing the numbers. If Apple pulls the trigger, it would be the biggest purchase in its history—far beyond the $3 billion deal for Beats or the $200 million acquisition of PrimeSense.
Meta’s play for AI‑powered search
Meta’s flirtation with Perplexity started earlier, but the social‑media giant eventually settled on a $14.8 billion bet for a 49% stake in Scale AI. Still, the initial talks reveal what Meta wants: a search engine that serves answers in a conversational format, not just links.
Meta has been building its own LLM arsenal for years, yet it lags behind OpenAI and Google in user‑facing products. Adding Perplexity’s engine could have turbo‑charged its AI toolkit, letting Facebook, Instagram, and the upcoming Threads app serve up richer, citation‑backed answers directly in the feed. The talks fizzled without a price tag, but the interest signals that Meta sees AI search as a new frontier for user engagement and ad revenue.
Both Apple and Meta are betting that the old model of keyword‑based links is on its way out. Perplexity’s 30 million daily queries show a hunger for answers that feel like a chat with a knowledgeable friend, complete with source links. If either giant takes the reins, the shift could force Google to double down on its own conversational products or risk losing its search monopoly.
Investors like Jeff Bezos and Nat Friedman have already poured money into Perplexity, driving its valuation to $14 billion in under two years. The startup’s cross‑platform rollout—iOS, Android, web, and browser extensions—means it can slip into Apple’s ecosystem or Meta’s apps with minimal friction. That versatility makes it a hot acquisition target for any company looking to embed AI search deep into its product stack.
For Apple, the deal could be a lifeline that turns Siri from a footnote into a headline feature and shields the company from a forced Google exit. For Meta, it could be the missing piece that finally lets the company compete head‑to‑head with Google’s search dominance. Either way, the $14 billion price tag underscores how seriously the tech world is taking AI‑driven search as the next big battleground.