As noted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 3.0 (a subscription is required to read the article), two dubious claims regarding Apple and artificial intelligence were made at this week’s ACTIVE: The Apple Investors Conference.
Let’s look at the more outrageous one first, which the Sellers Research Group (that’s me) says certainly won’t happen.
As noted by Apple 3.0, Needham’s Laura Martin predicted that OpenAI would acquire Apple within five years. No way this is going to happen. As Elmer-DeWitt noted: Its [OpenAI] revenue is on track to hit $10 billion in 2025 and the company hopes to hit $125 billion in 2029, by which time it expects to show its first profit. Its valuation is higher — roughly $300 billion — but Apple’s market cap ($3 trillion) is another order of magnitude. When I asked OpenAI’s own ChatGPT when such a deal might happen, it threw up its imaginary hands…
However, a second prediction seems more likely. Wedbush’s Daniel Ives predicted that Apple would buy Perplexity AI before the end of this year. There’s certainly a logic to this.
As noted by Elmer-DeWitt: Perplexity AI’s current valuation is about $14 billion. That’s not chicken feed — it’s more than four times Apple’s 2014 acquisition of Beats. But Apple, with $35 billion in net cash and free cash flow of another $100 billion a year, could certainly afford it.
Apple is already working with Perplexity, so a buy-out might be feasible. The tech giant is “actively looking at” bringing AI search options to Safari. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, made the statement during Google’s antitrust trial in May, saying the company will likely add AI search features to Safari in the coming year as they continue to improve.
“To date, they’re just not good enough,” Cue said, adding that Apple has already had discussions with Perplexity, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Cue is mindful that it’s still early days for generative AI, and says that with Apple’s existing agreement with OpenAI for other AI services, it was important to “make sure we have the capability to switch if we have to,” in case a different provider leaps ahead.
A Geeky Gadget article says Perplexity is “the Siri Apple should have created.” From the article: The Perplexity AI app is redefining the role of voice assistants, offering capabilities that surpass Apple’s Siri in several key areas. While it currently lacks support for smart home controls, Perplexity excels in managing tasks such as organizing calendars, composing emails, playing music, and answering complex questions. Its seamless integration with iPhone features highlights the fantastic potential of large language models, setting a new benchmark for voice assistant functionality.
Will Apple buy Perplexity? Keep your eyes peeled because I think it could happen.
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