In the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a relatively young startup is beginning to steal the spotlight — Perplexity AI. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, Perplexity AI has quickly emerged as one of the most intriguing players in the search technology space. Although it’s still early days for the company, many in the tech industry are already comparing its trajectory to that of OpenAI, the powerhouse behind ChatGPT.

According to multiple reports, two of the world’s biggest tech companies — Meta and Apple — are now eyeing Perplexity AI for a potential acquisition. While no official deal has been announced yet, rumors of high-level discussions have only fueled the buzz surrounding this up-and-coming company. So, what exactly makes Perplexity AI so special, and why are industry giants scrambling to get their hands on it?

At its core, Perplexity AI is not your average chatbot. Unlike conventional search engines that bombard users with sponsored results, endless ads, and a sea of blue links, Perplexity operates as a conversational search engine that provides clear, direct answers — complete with source citations — without the clutter. This approach has resonated with users around the world, helping Perplexity handle an impressive 780 million search queries every month. Even more remarkable is its growth trajectory: the platform’s user base is expanding at a monthly rate of nearly 20%, a figure that underscores its potential to disrupt the search market.

Adding to its appeal is Perplexity’s recent product innovation: an AI-powered browser assistant named Comet. This assistant aims to transform the way people interact with the web by helping them with a range of tasks, from summarizing web pages and managing emails to enhancing the online shopping experience. In an era when digital overload is a growing problem, tools like Comet promise to make information more accessible and user-friendly.

Apple’s Strategic Interest

For Apple, the stakes could not be higher. While competitors like Microsoft and Google have aggressively integrated AI into their products, Apple’s approach has been comparatively cautious. Even at its highly anticipated WWDC 2025 event, the company remained largely silent about new AI features — especially for Siri, its once-revolutionary virtual assistant that now feels outdated compared to next-gen AI bots. Industry analysts believe Siri’s major upgrade may not arrive until 2026, leaving Apple with a significant gap to fill.

Complicating matters further is Apple’s multi-billion dollar deal with Google to keep Google Search as the default engine on Safari — an arrangement now under intense legal scrutiny. Should regulators force Apple to break away from this lucrative partnership, the company could lose billions in annual revenue and risk handing over its search experience to rival firms.

Acquiring Perplexity AI would give Apple a golden opportunity to bring search fully in-house — empowering it to build its own AI-driven search engine that could seamlessly integrate with Safari and power a smarter version of Siri. According to a Bloomberg report, Apple’s senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, and its head of corporate development, Adrian Perica, have already held serious discussions about acquiring Perplexity. If the deal goes through, it could become the largest acquisition in Apple’s history, underscoring just how pivotal AI has become to the company’s future.

Why Meta Wants In

Meta’s interest in Perplexity is equally significant. Over the past few years, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has doubled down on embedding AI into its suite of products — from Facebook and Instagram to WhatsApp and Messenger. Meta recently invested a staggering $14.3 billion in Scale AI, demonstrating its ambition to build industry-leading AI models and infrastructure.

However, its in-house AI efforts, such as the LLaMA 4 large language model, have received mixed reactions so far, and the company is reportedly reorganizing some internal AI teams to boost performance and stay competitive. In this context, acquiring a fast-growing player like Perplexity could give Meta a major boost, instantly strengthening its capabilities in conversational AI and AI-powered search. This would not only help Meta refine its existing products but also expand into new areas like AI assistants, search engines, and productivity tools.

At a time when generative AI is reshaping how we search for and consume information online, Perplexity’s clean, ad-free approach is especially appealing. For Meta, adding this technology to its ecosystem could unlock new user experiences, deepen engagement, and generate valuable data — all of which could reinforce its advertising business and long-term AI ambitions.

The Bigger Picture

Ultimately, the growing interest in Perplexity AI highlights how critical conversational AI and search technology have become in the post-ChatGPT era. Tech giants are no longer content with playing catch-up; they want best-in-class AI solutions they can control, monetize, and integrate across their ecosystems. As regulators scrutinize long-standing deals like the Apple-Google search partnership, and as consumers demand more intuitive, accurate, and privacy-friendly search experiences, startups like Perplexity have a rare window of opportunity to disrupt the status quo.

Whether Meta or Apple ultimately secures the deal — or whether Perplexity chooses to remain independent — the company’s rise is a clear signal that the next frontier in AI is all about reinventing how we find and interact with information online. And in this high-stakes race, whoever owns the smartest search engine could very well shape the future of the internet.

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