Apple is reportedly considering the acquisition of Perplexity AI
Apple's executives are thinking of acquiring Perplexity AI both to get more talent and to be able to offer an AI-based search engine in the future, according to Bloomberg . Adrian Perica, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, has reportedly already talked about the idea with services SVP Eddy Cue and the company's top decision-makers with it comes to its AI efforts. It's early stages, however: Apple has yet to talk to Perplexity about a bid, and the internal talks may not even lead to a formal offer.
The executives also reportedly discussed an alternative, wherein instead of buying Perplexity outright, it'll team up with the AI company instead. Either way, the idea is to develop an AI search engine powered by Perplexity and to integrate Perplexity's technology into Siri. While Apple has yet to make a formal offer, Bloomberg says it met several times with Perplexity over the past few months.
In May, Cue revealed that Apple discussed a possible Safari-integration with Perplexity while on the stand for Google's ongoing Search antitrust case. Cue took the stand due to Apple's long-standing deal with Google to make its search engine the default on the iPhone. (In turn, Apple gets billions of dollars a year — $18 billion in 2021 — from the arrangement.) Cue didn't share any definitive plans, however, including the possibility of an acquisition.
If regulators order Apple to end its partnership with Google, purchasing Perplexity would make it easier for the company to develop an AI-based search engine. In addition, it would allow the company to acquire talent needed to be able to catch up with other companies when it comes to artificial intelligence. Apple, like Meta, has been scouting for new AI talent. Bloomberg says it's even competing against the Facebook owner to hire Daniel Gross, the founder of AI company Safe Superintelligence Inc. The company does seem to need help to be able to release the AI features it wants to provide its users. A few months ago, for instance, Apple delayed the rollout of a more powerful Siri that was a key component of its original pitch for Apple Intelligence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Adaptive Power in iOS 26 Could Save the iPhone 17 Air From This Major Pitfall
There's one feature Apple unveiled during WWDC on Monday that didn't get the attention I think it deserves: Adaptive Power. This AI-powered feature can help your iPhone battery last longer by lowering your display's brightness and making "small performance adjustments" like "allowing some activities to take a little longer," according to Apple. It'll also turn on Low Power Mode automatically when your battery drops to 20% to limit background activities and further extend battery life. Adaptive Power can come in clutch no matter what phone you have (as long as it can run iOS 26), but where it really has the potential to be a game-changer is with the rumored iPhone 17 Air. Apple's thinner iPhone is expected to debut in the fall, though the company has yet to confirm reports about its imminent arrival. A skinny iPhone would join the ranks of other slim phones like Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge and the Oppo Find N5, which both came out earlier this year. And on Monday, hot on the heels of WWDC, Samsung also shared a teaser about its upcoming Galaxy Z foldable series, calling it "the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet." Thin phones can come across as gimmicky (who asked for them, really?), but they're undoubtedly having a moment as companies look for new ways to lure your dollars. After using devices like the Galaxy S25 Edge and Oppo Find N5, I can attest that holding a slim, lightweight phone is quite refreshing, and I'm eager to see what Apple has in store. But there's also a major downside to building a phone with such a slim profile, as I experienced recently with the S25 Edge: Battery life takes a hit. A thinner phone also means a smaller battery, which means shorter battery life. The S25 Edge, for instance, definitely needs a recharge at the end of the day -- no excess battery there. If Apple can find a way to make the iPhone 17 Air last beyond that bare minimum amount, that could really help its slim offering stand out. Adaptive Power may be the superpower Apple needs to appeal to anyone who won't sacrifice battery life for a thinner phone. But whether this feature truly is a breakthrough is up in the air -- along with the reality of the iPhone 17 Air itself. See also: Dear Apple, Please Steal These Galaxy S25 Edge Features for a Thin iPhone
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
When Will Apple Launch The New MacBook Air And MacBook Pro?
A MacBook Pro is displayed inside the Apple Carnegie Library store on May 30, 2025 (Photo by Kevin ...) While the main iPhone line has its launch date fixed to early September, the Mac portfolio, especially the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops, has been adrift in the calendar for many years. Thankfully, Apple is settling into a steady rhythm of new releases across its hardware portfolio, bringing some stability to the Mac announcements. For many, that means regular updates to the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops. Finding An Annual MacBook Pro Schedule Apple has indicated that it now prefers annual updates on software and hardware. The recent move to unify the various operating systems to a single number pointing to the year where it will be dominant only works with annual refreshes on the cardinal number and the associated software. The key hardware upgrade is the Apple Silicon chipset. Over the last five years, Apple has rolled out five major versions of the M-Series chipsets. Through these, Tim Cook and his team have worked to bring the chaotic laptop releases under some control. It now looks like the patterns set in 2024 will continue in 2025 and 2026, which lets us start putting some dates into the calendar. And it's the Apple Silicon M-Series that highlights Apple's consistent upgrade path. MacBook Pro's iPad Pro Barrier The current MacBook Pro was launched in late October 2024, five months after the Apple Silicon M4 chipset debuted with the iPad Pro M4. That happened one month before Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. That iPad captured the love and 'new car smell' of the Apple Silicon M4 away from the Mac family. That's not the case this year; not only has a new iPad Pro been announced, but WWDC has also been and gone with no announcement of the Apple Silicon M5. With roughly eighteen months between each of the last three models, this doesn't come as a huge surprise, given we're looking at cadences. That should clear the way for the M5 to arrive inside new Mac products.. When Will The New MacBook Pro M5 Arrive Apple first launched the MacBook Pro with the M1 Max and M1 Pro chips on Oct. 18, 2021. The M2 Pro and M2 Max models arrived later in the cycle, on Jan. 17, 2023. Normal service resumed on Oct. 30 2023 with the M3 Pro and M3 Max models, with Oct 30. 2024 seeing the M4 Pro and M4 Max models (alongside the vanilla M4 model). There are enough signs from the supply chain that Apple's pre-release activities are following the same schedule as last year, for example, the Apple Silicon M5 chipsets are now in production. The schedule has been confirmed throughout the year. Oct. 30th is a Thursday this year. Apple tends to go earlier in the week for a launch, so it's likely Tuesday, Oct. 28th or Wednesday, Oct. 29th. Either way, Halloween week is the safest bet so far. And perhaps for more than the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro M5 Competition As for the eighteen-month window on the iPad Pro, that points to a similar late October launch. Apple will be considering a launch of the iPad Pro M5 alongside the MacBook Pro M5. Both the laptop and the tablet are geared towards different markets with different scenarios, and launching them together to complement each other would allow for the similarities of macOS and iPadOS to be demonstrated, as well as illustrating the different approaches Apple's mobile computing teams have taken. It's worth noting that the current M4-powered MacBook Air was launched in early March 2025, some ten months after the reveal of the M4 chipset in the iPad Pro, putting the consumer-focused laptop close to a year behind the current technology, while still giving the appearance of sitting on the cutting edge. Will The MacBook Pro M5 Be Enough All of this stands in the shadow of one key detail around the MacBook Pro M5… that it will be little more than an internal upgrade to allow for the Apple Silicon bump. The external design changes—including the long-awaited arrival of an OLED display—may be waiting for the M6-powered model in 2026. Now read the latest MacBook Pro, iPhone and WWDC headlines in Forbes' weekly Apple news digest...
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meta Discussed Buying Perplexity Before Investing in Scale
(Bloomberg) -- Meta Platforms Inc. held discussions with artificial intelligence search startup Perplexity AI Inc. about a possible takeover before moving ahead with a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. Security Concerns Hit Some of the World's 'Most Livable Cities' One Architect's Quest to Save Mumbai's Heritage From Disappearing JFK AirTrain Cuts Fares 50% This Summer to Lure Riders Off Roads NYC Congestion Toll Cuts Manhattan Gridlock by 25%, RPA Reports Taser-Maker Axon Triggers a NIMBY Backlash in its Hometown The two companies couldn't come to an agreement and decided not to pursue the deal, said the people, who asked not to be named as the details of the talks aren't public. The financial terms under discussion could not be learned. Perplexity recently closed a new round of funding at a $14 billion valuation. Meta also attempted to hire Perplexity Chief Executive Officer Aravind Srinivas to join the social media company's new 'superintelligence' team, which is focused on building more powerful AI systems, the people said. The talks with Meta, which have not previously been reported, highlight Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's willingness to use deals and big hires to catch up in the AI race. The talks took place before Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI that gives it a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup. Meta and Perplexity didn't respond to requests for comment. Founded in 2022, Perplexity has emerged as one of the most prominent startups using generative AI to rethink core internet services. Perplexity is taking on Alphabet Inc.'s Google by offering an AI tool that summarizes search results, lists citations for its answers and helps users refine their queries to get the best responses. The startup is also developing an AI-powered web browser. Frustrated with the pace of Meta's AI development, Zuckerberg is making a concerted push to poach top AI talent from across the industry with lucrative pay packages. Meta has succeeded in hiring Scale AI's former CEO Alexandr Wang, as well as top researchers from Google DeepMind and Sesame AI Inc. Not everyone is jumping to join Meta, however. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a podcast this week that some on his staff had been approached by Meta with offers of $100 million signing bonuses and even bigger compensation packages, but had declined to join the company. Meta has been in talks with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman to recruit him to the new team, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has also been working on hiring Daniel Gross, the CEO of Safe Superintelligence, a research lab founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, the person said. Meta has also held early discussions for a computing deal in which Safe Superintelligence would use Meta's data center infrastructure, the person said. Representatives for Safe Superintelligence did not immediately respond to request for comment. Other Big Tech firms, including Google and Inc, have tried to establish themselves as the backbone of the AI ecosystem by providing chips and cloud computing resources to artificial intelligence startups. Meta has not gone this route to date. --With assistance from Julia Love. (Story updated with new details on Meta's hiring efforts starting in the third paragraph.) Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? The US Has More Copper Than China But No Way to Refine All of It Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
