Two of the world’s biggest tech companies Meta and Apple are locked in a quiet but intense battle for a single startup: Perplexity AI. At first glance, Perplexity might seem like just another chatbot, but to industry insiders, it represents the missing piece in the escalating war for the future of search, personal assistants, and AI-driven user experiences.
Recent reports reveal that both Apple and Meta have held internal talks about acquiring Perplexity AI, with Meta making an approach earlier this year and Apple’s top executives, including mergers and acquisitions chief Adrian Perica and services SVP Eddy Cue, now weighing their own move. While no formal offers have been made, the interest from these industry titans signals just how high the stakes have become in the AI arms race.
Perplexity AI isn’t just another conversational agent. It’s a rapidly growing AI-powered search engine that combines real-time web search with natural language responses essentially a hybrid of Google Search and ChatGPT. Handling over 780 million queries per month and growing at a breakneck pace, Perplexity is redefining how users access information online.
Perplexity’s technology could form the backbone of a next-generation search engine, challenging Google’s dominance and offering a more conversational, context-aware experience. For Apple, integrating Perplexity could supercharge Siri, which has lagged behind rivals in intelligence and usefulness. For Meta, it could bolster its own AI assistant ambitions and enhance products across its ecosystem.
Both companies face pressure to reduce reliance on Google. Apple, in particular, is considering Perplexity as a fallback if its multibillion-dollar search deal with Google is ended by regulators or competitive shifts. Acquiring Perplexity would bring in a team of AI experts and cutting-edge technology, giving either company a critical boost in the race against OpenAI, Google, and other rivals.
The scramble for Perplexity comes at a time when Apple, Meta, and other tech giants are pouring billions into AI research and acquisitions. Meta recently spent $14.8 billion on Scale AI and launched a new superintelligence division, while Apple faces mounting investor pressure to accelerate its AI roadmap after a lackluster showing at WWDC and a $900 billion market value drop earlier this year.
For Apple, buying Perplexity would mark its biggest acquisition since Beats Electronics in 2014, signaling a rare but urgent pivot from its usual in-house development strategy. For Meta, it’s about keeping pace with OpenAI and Google in the generative AI space and ensuring its platforms remain at the forefront of digital interaction.
