Sources: Apple execs have held internal discussions about bidding for, or partnering with, Perplexity, seeking to address the need for more AI talent and tech
Apple Inc. executives have held internal discussions about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI …
What is notable is the range of options under consideration: a partnership would add capability without ownership, while a bid would make talent and technology an M&A question. A subsequent assessment of Apple’s traditionally cautious dealmaking framed AI as a potential reason to revisit that posture as the company seeks to close its AI gap.
First-order effects
Apple has reportedly put Perplexity on its internal menu of potential AI partners or acquisition targets; no transaction or product integration is reported.
The discussions give Perplexity strategic relevance as a possible source of both AI technology and personnel for Apple, while leaving its status unchanged unless talks advance.
Second-order effects
Other model and AI-product providers negotiating with Apple may face a clearer choice between supplying technology through partnerships and becoming acquisition candidates.
A deal, if pursued, could reduce Apple’s reliance on a broader set of external AI conversations; a partnership instead would preserve Apple’s multi-provider approach.
Third-order effects
If Apple increasingly uses acquisitions alongside partnerships to fill AI capability gaps, large platforms may compete more directly for scarce AI teams and product-layer technology rather than only model access.
The pattern points to AI procurement becoming a strategic-control decision: companies must choose whether to integrate outside capabilities, own them, or maintain multiple suppliers.
The trend: Big consumer platforms are moving from exploratory AI integrations toward decisions over whether critical AI capabilities should be bought, partnered for, or built internally.
It's both inevitable and smart for Apple to consider an AI acquisition especially as Jony Ive & Sam Altman are working on an iPhone killer. — However I'd expect them to dream bigger and go after a foundation model company like Mistral or Anthropic not just an app developer like…
This is an obvious choice to me for consumer cloud AI services. have discussed many times on the pod. On-device AI is another thing entirely and I don't know what skill-sets it has to help with that.
in the case of SSI, Meta ended up investing in its recent funding round instead (along with Google). now, SSI's CEO is set to leave and co-lead Meta AI. I expect for the new team under Alex Wang to be announced as soon as next week. wild times
yes, Mark Zuckerberg looked at acquiring Perplexity and Safe Superintelligence he also approached Mira Murati about buying her new AI lab, Thinking Machines none of these talks got very far though, mainly due to disagreements about price and/or strategy https://www.theverge.com/.…
In case Judge Mehta actually believed Apple would never enter the search biz. It's smart to wait until after the ruling to announce a deal, you wouldn't want to tip your hand ahead of time and impact the outcome. [image]
NEW: Apple executives have held internal discussions about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, seeking to address the need for more AI talent and technology — https://www.bloomberg.com/...