The news that Apple is rumored to be interested in buying Perplexity AI has caused shockwaves in Silicon Valley as it indicates that there might be a turning point in artificial intelligence (AI) strategy of the company. With Perplexity, a high-growth AI search startup launched by Arvind Srinivas, in its sights, the tech community will tune in to see whether Apple is finally going to take an aggressive step to bridge the AI gap. And that is why the Apple Perplexity tale has the potential to redefine how Apple wants to handle AI and search, and what its competitors think about it.
Why Apple is eyeing Perplexity AI
Apple has always been more comfortable developing its technology internally but the Apple Perplexity debates leave the company unprecedentedly open to outside ideas. Apple has considered the possibility through its M&A chief Adrian Perica as well as its services boss, Eddy Cue and leaders regarding AI. The company is said to be considering not only full-scale takeover, but also either incorporating Perplexity into Safari search engine or collaborating with it to strengthen Siri features.
This interest is timely. Apple has been criticised as falling behind Google, Microsoft-supported OpenAI, and Meta in an AI arms race. The last of Apple developers gatherings did not go well with Wall Street with prevalent analysts expressing disappointment that Apple does not have a killer app in its arsenal of artificial intelligence products.
How Perplexity could change the Apple AI game?
Among its most important features, Perplexity AI is not another ordinary search engine but utilises powerful large language models (LLMs) to provide cite answers; it directly competes with such search engines as Google Search and AI-based Bing promoted by Microsoft. Using Apple Perplexity technology will become extremely useful to Apple since the company will be able to decrease its search partnership with Google as the default search engine provider where Safari uses Google search. Due to the reference-based, context-aware answer capability, Perplexity has the power to make Siri turbocharged, making Apple digital assistant even more similar to ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Moreover, with the help of the best AI minds and the latest tech of Perplexity, Apple would be able to speed up its AI agenda drastically, enabling it to iterate faster and leap ahead of competition instead of having to reinvent the wheel. Industry analyst Alex Kantrowitz wrote on LinkedIn, “This would be the biggest acquisition in Apple’s history (by far)… The fit, urgency, and potential for Apple to leapfrog the competition in AI search is clear.”
The Apple Perplexity move isn’t just about catching up in AI search. It’s about Apple signaling to investors and the tech world that it’s willing to make bold bets to stay relevant in the next era of computing. The purchase would benefit the stock of Apple also, which has lagged in the stock market this year, due to sluggish iPhone sales and doubts surrounding its AI ambitions.
Future outlook
Although discussions are in the preliminary stages, it is possible that there may not be a launch of a bid but the mere fact that Cupertino is seriously considering Apple Perplexity presents a turnaround strategy on its part. At the end of the day, regardless of whether it becomes a full merger or a deep partnership, a relationship with Perplexity may give Apple the AI advantage it requires in order to keep up with Google, Microsoft, and Meta.
Apple has a number of other projects, the future of which is currently being guessed by investors, but also by who is simply curious about the future of search, digital assistants and the next generation of smart devices now that Google, Apple and Amazon are racing in the AI arms race.
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