5 reasons why Perplexity AI is Apple's most likely multibillion-dollar acquisition

Apple is reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire the AI startup Perplexity AI in a move to significantly enhance its artificial intelligence offerings. While discussions are underway, involving top executives like services chief Eddy Cue and M&A head Adrian Perica, sources cited by Bloomberg suggest a formal offer is not guaranteed. If completed, the acquisition of Perplexity would represent Apple's largest corporate purchase to date. Here are five key reasons driving Apple's potential buyout.

“The most likely acquisition target in the multibillion-dollar range is Perplexity AI. While the company lacks its own cutting-edge foundation models — like those of OpenAI or Anthropic — it has several advantages that make it a logical fit for Apple,” said Mark Gurman.

5 reasons why Apple may buy Perplexity:

Consumer ready product: Gurman says that a primary advantage is its proven, consumer-ready product. With an interface and voice controls, Perplexity's search tool would feel native to Apple's iOS and could replace Google as the default AI-powered search engine in Safari, Spotlight, and Siri.

The report says that this can directly address a clear need for Apple, which, despite improving its core AI models, lacks a strong conversational search layer—Perplexity's exact strength.

Perplexity’s small team: Gurman notes that from a practical standpoint, the acquisition is feasible because Perplexity’s team has roughly 250 employees, rich with AI talent . The team is small enough for smooth integration into Apple’s Siri and AI engineering teams.

Reasonable price tag: Furthermore, its estimated $14 billion valuation is considered reasonable, presenting a high-upside, low-risk investment compared to other AI giants.

Timing is critical: With its lucrative search deal with Google threatened by a US antitrust lawsuit, Apple must prepare for a future without Google search. Acquiring Perplexity would finally allow Apple to launch its own branded search engine.

Bringing a brand name in-house: Such a deal offers secondary benefits as well, Gurman notes. Bringing the recognisable Perplexity brand in-house would bolster Apple’s credibility and recruiting power in the competitive AI community, where it has historically faced challenges.

This interest isn't just speculative. Apple's services chief, Eddy Cue, a key dealmaker, publicly praised the startup during the Google antitrust trial earlier this year.

"We’ve been pretty impressed with what Perplexity has done," Cue testified, admitting that "the service sometimes can provide better results than a classic search engine like Google."