Nvidia in talks to invest in Perplexity at over US$30 billion valuation: report

Nvidia is discussing an investment in AI search startup Perplexity as part of a funding round that would value the company at more than US$30 billion, according to The Information. The valuation would represent a more than 50 per cent increase from Perplexity's previous round a year ago, the report

Nvidia is in talks to invest in Perplexity as part of an equity funding round that would value the AI startup at more than US$30 billion, The Information reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the discussion.

The funding round would increase Perplexity's valuation by more than 50 per cent from its previous financing a year ago, according to the report. Perplexity's annualised revenue has risen to more than US$750 million from less than US$250 million at the start of the year, the report said, adding that part of the growth has been driven by Perplexity Computer, a cloud-based AI agent used by professionals to automate computer-based tasks.

Perplexity declined to comment on the Information report, while Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Information reported in September last year that Perplexity had finalised a US$20 billion valuation.

Earlier this year, Perplexity signed a US$750 million agreement with Microsoft to use its Azure cloud service, according to a Bloomberg News report. The startup's high-profile backers, along with Nvidia, include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Japan's SoftBank Group.

Perplexity is planning to go public in 2028 regardless of how the market receives the listings of Anthropic and OpenAI, CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC in an interview in June.