Meta Platforms Inc. and Apple Inc. are circling Perplexity AI as a potential acquisition in their intensifying quest to accumulate top talent and bolster their flagging artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.
Meta and Perplexity discussed a possible deal in late April or early May, according to reports in The Information and Bloomberg.
Apple executives, meanwhile, considered buying Perplexity though talks are in early stages, Bloomberg reported. It said Adrian Perica, Apple’s head of mergers and acquisitions, reportedly broached the idea with Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, and other top decision-makers. (In May, Cue said Apple discussed possible Safari integration with Perplexity while testifying during the Justice Department’s ongoing antitrust case vs. Google.)
Executives of the iPhone maker also reportedly discussed teaming with Perplexity instead of buying it outright to develop an AI search engine undergirded by Perplexity and integrated into Siri.
Piqued interest in Perplexity underscores the disconcerting state of AI development at the two tech giants, both of whom have scuffled to keep pace with rivals Microsoft Corp., OpenAI, Anthropic, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and Chinese startups in the AI race.
Meta, in particular, has scrambled to procure AI talent. The company has offered employment packages of up to $100 million as part of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s frenzied recruitment plan, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a recent “Uncapped” podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta offered $100 million signing bonuses to his employees with no success.
Meta has already sunk $14.3 billion in Scale AI, a startup that offers tools to help companies label the data used to train AI models, and hired Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang as part of the deal. (Additionally, Meta spoke with AI startup Runway about a potential takeover ahead of its investment in Scale AI, CNBC reported.)
Apple, too, has scouting for AI talent and, increasingly, competing with Meta. Both companies are attempting to woo Daniel Gross, co-founder and CEO of AI company Safe Superintelligence Inc. After Meta’s $32 billion offer to buy Safe Superintelligence was rebuffed, it turned to poaching Gross as well as hire GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.
The hunt for talent is especially pitched as Apple and Meta contend with slower-than-expected AI efforts that have left executives at both companies frustrated.
Earlier this year, Apple pushed back release of a more powerful Siri considered a key component of its original plan for Apple Intelligence, according to Bloomberg. The company has made little progress in its Apple Intelligence initiative since it was unveiled a year ago.
Meta, meanwhile, reportedly delayed rollout of its next flagship Llama model, according to The Wall Street Journal, and its 2-month-old standalone AI app amid privacy concerns. The company discovered some user queries that were seemingly believed to be posted in private were actually public.
