Mark Gurman

Updated Fri, Jun 20, 2025, 10:23 AM1 min read

(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.

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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.

The talks with Meta, which have not previously been reported, highlight Meta Chief Executive Officer 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 deal this month to invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI and take a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup.

Meta and Perplexity didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

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 Meta.

—With assistance from Julia Love.

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