Apple is reportedly considering its most ambitious acquisition yet: AI startup Perplexity, whose AI-driven search engine and chatbot are among the leading ChatGPT alternatives with around 15 million users.
According to a new Bloomberg report this week, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, has been in talks with services SVP Eddy Cue and the company's top executives about a potential offer. Discussions are still in a very early stage, and Apple has yet to make a bid, but executives have met with Perplexity several times over the past few months, Bloomberg reports.
Another possibility is a team-up with Perplexity, rather than an acquisition. The ultimate goal would be to integrate Perplexity's tech into an AI-based search engine or use it to make Siri smarter now that Apple's planned AI revamp for its assistant has been pushed into 2026.
Similar to ChatGPT Search, Perplexity is a cross between a traditional search engine and an AI assistant. It uses large language models to comb the web to answer user queries in a conversational way, similar to interacting with a knowledgable assistant. It's also built with cross-platform accessibility in mind, so users can access its AI-powered search and assistant features on a wide range of devices.
A smart move on Apple's part
Acquiring Perplexity could be a strategic fallback for Apple if regulators force the company to end its partnership with Google. With Perplexity under its belt, Apple could accelerate the development of its own AI-powered search engine across the best iPhones, helping it close the gap with competitors like Google and Meta in the AI race.
It couldn't come at a better time too. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Meta tried to scoop up Perplexity first earlier this year before moving ahead with Scale AI. At WWDC 2025, Apple was cagey about a concrete timeline for the full rollout of Apple Intelligence upgrades for Siri. It's quickly becoming clear that Apple needs some outside help bringing its intended AI features to market, and Perplexity could fill that role.
If a deal is reached, it'd be the largest in Apple's history. Perplexity is valued at around $14 billion, a figure that dwarfs Apple's most significant deal to date: buying Beats for $3 billion back in 2014.
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