People familiar with the matter said Meta Platforms Inc. Before advancing its $10 billion investment in Scale AI, it worked with artificial intelligence (AI) search startup Perplexity AI Inc. The possibility of acquisition was discussed.
The two companies were unable to reach an agreement and decided not to move forward with the deal, said the people, who asked not to be named because details of the negotiations are private. The financial terms of the negotiations were not immediately available. Perplexity recently completed a new round of financing at a valuation of $14 billion.
The discussions with Meta, which have not previously been reported in the press, underscore Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's willingness to pursue deals and big hiring to catch up with rivals in the AI race. The discussions took place before Meta finalized a deal this month to invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI and acquire a 49% stake in the data labeling startup.
Meta and Perplexity did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
