Apple is investigating potential bids for Prplexity AI, a rapidly growing startup aimed at rewiring how people search for information online, Bloomberg reported Friday.
The discussions are still preliminary. Adrian Perica, head of Apple’s M&A, reportedly discussed the idea with Eddy Cue and other major AI leaders in the company. According to people familiar with the issue, there is no contract at the table yet.
Apple explores buying Prplexity AI to boost AI talent
According to Bloomberg, Apple executives have been quietly debating the possibility of bidding on bewildered AI as they are trying to strengthen their talent and technology stack.
“Apple Inc. executives have been having internal discussions about the possibility of bidding on artificial intelligence startups bewildered AI in an attempt to address the need for more AI talent and technology,” reported Bloomberg.
This comes just weeks after it was said it would close a $500 million funding round that would increase its valuation to $14 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. This has grown rapidly from the $9 billion mark, reportedly a hit just six months ago.
Perplexity was founded in 2022 by a team of engineers from Ex-Google and Openai. Instead of providing a list of links, the platform responds to the question with direct conversational answers and quotes its source. This format is simple, fast and clear, and offers a real alternative to traditional search engines.
The founder of confusion
The approach seems to be working. The company currently has over 15 million monthly active users, and has recently introduced a subscription tier of $20 per month. Its paid plans already generate solid revenue, suggesting that users see real value when they stick to it.
Investors are attracting attention. It reportedly offers a $15 billion valuation, whether it’s not confused or aggressively rising. So far, the company has maintained these unsolicited offers at ARM length.
Still, not everyone praises it. Some media accused startups of scraping content without proper credit. The New York Times sent a ceasefire and an assumption. Confusion denies fraud, points to the use of citations, and more recently point to a revenue sharing model that pays publishers when content drives advertising revenue.
Meanwhile, the wider AI search race is getting hot. Google has invested heavily in the Gemini project. Openai, which already bolsters ChatGpt’s popular chatbot, has added live search results such as sports and inventory estimates. Both follow the same use cases that embarrassment is trying to argue.
But the stumping momentum from attention from users, investors and Apple has put it into rare companies. Whether Apple takes action or not, it is clear that the search war is entering a new stage.
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