Meta Platforms, Inc. (NasdaqGS:META) 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. 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.
