Meta recently tried to acquire AI search startup Perplexity AI before pivoting to a massive $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, highlighting the company’s urgent and aggressive push to compete in the artificial intelligence race.
According to sources, takeover talks between Meta and Perplexity ultimately fell apart. While the exact reason remains confidential, one person familiar with the negotiations said the decision was mutual. At the same time, another claimed Perplexity walked away from the deal.
The attempted acquisition underscores CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s agitation with rivals like OpenAI and Google, who appear to be leading in both AI models and consumer products. This frustration is fueling an all-out effort to acquire top-tier companies and talent.
After the Perplexity talks concluded, Meta invested a staggering $14.3 billion for a 49% non-voting stake in Scale AI, a data labeling firm crucial for training AI models. As part of the deal, Scale AI’s founder, Alexandr Wang, will join Meta to lead product development. Meta also tried to acquire another startup, Safe Superintelligence and is bringing on its CEO, Daniel Gross.
The fierce talent competition was underscored by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who said Meta has tried poaching his employees with signing bonuses as high as $100 million. “I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,” Altman said on a recent podcast. “Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped, and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things.”
