As race for AI startups heats up, Apple, Meta mull Perplexity acquisition

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To stay ahead in the artificial intelligence (AI) race, tech giants such as Apple and Meta are eyeing the acquisition of AI startups.Apple executives have held internal talks about potentially bidding for AI startup Perplexity , Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.The report added that discussions are at an early stage, and that the tech giants' executives are yet to approach Perplexity's management."We have no knowledge of any current or future M&A discussions involving Perplexity," Perplexity said in response to a Reuters report.The report further added that Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), has weighed the idea with services chief Eddy Cue and top AI decision-makers.The iPhone maker is reportedly exploring ways to integrate AI-driven search features, such as Perplexity AI, into its Safari browser, potentially moving away from its longstanding partnership with Alphabet's Google.While Google continues to dominate the search engine space globally, AI-powered alternatives like Perplexity and ChatGPT are gaining traction, particularly among younger users.Meanwhile, Bloomberg News also reported on Friday that Meta Platforms tried to buy Perplexity earlier this year.Last week, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company invested $14.2 billion in Scale AI and roped in its CEO, Alexandr Wang. Wang is set to take a leadership role at a newly established, 50-person research lab at Meta, tasked with creating artificial superintelligence (ASI)—AI systems designed to surpass human intelligence.These developments come days after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Zuckerberg of trying to poach OpenAI's talent , speaking at his brother's podcast, 'Uncapped'.Meta is said to be eyeing other startups as well, including Safe Superintelligence —a $32 billion venture launched by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever just last year.Sources told CNBC that Meta approached Sutskever earlier this year with an offer to acquire the company, but he reportedly turned it down.Meanwhile, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened an antitrust case against Meta , accusing it of buying rivals to kill competition and build a social media monopoly.Two deals were at the centre of the case: Facebook's acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014.

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