Sources reveal that Adrian Perica, Apple’s Vice President of Corporate Development, has held multiple strategic discussions regarding this proposal with Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, as well as with other key executives leading Apple’s AI initiatives. While these conversations remain in the preliminary planning phase and no formal offer has yet been extended to Perplexity AI, the two parties have reportedly engaged in several meetings over recent months—leaving room for the possibility of a strategic partnership instead of a full acquisition.
Perplexity AI has swiftly emerged as a noteworthy player in the artificial intelligence space, offering a search experience akin to ChatGPT’s conversational interface—aggregating source material and generating concise, context-aware answers to user queries. Should Apple succeed in embedding Perplexity AI’s capabilities into Safari or Siri, it would dramatically elevate the competitiveness of its AI search services.
It is worth noting that Eddy Cue previously testified in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust case against Google, revealing that Apple had explored the idea of integrating Perplexity AI into Safari, although he refrained from elaborating on any subsequent developments. Given Apple’s current multibillion-dollar annual arrangement with Google to maintain its search engine as the default on Apple devices, the potential for mandated dissolution of this deal—should regulators intervene—could make the pursuit of a proprietary solution not just strategic but imperative. In such a scenario, a partnership with Perplexity AI could provide a timely and effective alternative.
Apple, like its competitors such as Meta, is actively seeking top talent in the AI domain. Reports indicate that Apple is even vying with Meta to recruit Daniel Gross, co-founder of the AI firm Safe Superintelligence, in a broader bid to bridge the gap between Apple and industry leaders like OpenAI and Google through both talent acquisition and technology development.
Currently, the rollout of Apple Intelligence features remains in flux, with the highly anticipated upgrade to Siri—initially revealed at WWDC 2024—facing repeated delays. This underscores the ongoing technical challenges Apple faces in integrating large language models and generative AI into its core ecosystem.
Should Apple succeed in acquiring Perplexity AI, the move would significantly bolster its semantic search and algorithmic comprehension capabilities—paving the way for more intelligent interactions across the iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro platforms.
