The publication cited sources as saying that the talks are in an early stage and may not lead to an acquisition. Perplexity reportedly received a $14 billion valuation in a recent funding round. To be accepted, any takeout offer made by Apple would likely have to be higher.

Adrian Perica, the company’s head of mergers and acquisitions, has weighed the idea with services chief Eddy Cue and top AI decision-makers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The discussions are at an early stage and may not lead to an offer,

The move underscores Apple’s struggle to keep pace with rivals amid increasing pressure to integrate artificial intelligence across its hardware and software ecosystem. In particular, Apple has faced persistent delays in its efforts to upgrade Siri, leaving the voice assistant trailing competitors such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s Grok.