The company that wanted to buy Google Chrome might soon count Nvidia among its biggest backers. Perplexity AI is reportedly in talks for an investment that would value the AI search startup at more than $30 billion, barely six months after it was worth around $20 billion.
What is reportedly on the table
According to The Information, Nvidia has discussed putting money into Perplexity at a valuation above $30 billion. Neither company has confirmed anything, and the size of the chipmaker’s check remains unknown, but the direction is clear: Nvidia wants a deeper seat inside AI search while the category is still hot.
| Metric | Last major round | Reported talks now |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | About $20 billion | $30 billion-plus |
| Annualized revenue run rate | Under $250 million (start of year) | Around $750 million |
| Key backer being courted | Jensen Huang’s rivals’ investors (Bezos, SoftBank already in) | Nvidia |
| Status | Closed | Talks only, no guarantee of a deal |
Why the numbers moved so fast
Perplexity’s revenue story explains most of the hype. Its annualized run rate reportedly tripled to about $750 million this year, driven heavily by Perplexity Computer, an agent that researches, edits documents, updates spreadsheets and runs multi-app workflows for users. That kind of agentic usage burns inference compute by design, which is precisely the hardware Nvidia sells.
The strategic logic for Nvidia
This would not be Nvidia’s first swing at Perplexity, nor its only AI bet: the company has already invested in OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI. But with competitors like AMD and Cerebras courting AI labs looking for alternatives, funding companies that lean hard on Nvidia silicon is a demand hedge as much as an investment. There is also a Samsung angle: Perplexity says its search tech will be integrated into Bixby, potentially shipping it onto hundreds of millions of Galaxy devices, and the startup has reportedly eyed a possible IPO around 2028.
We have been tracking how frothy this market has gotten; our deep dive on whether the AI bubble is already cracking looks at exactly these valuations. And if you are choosing an AI companion for daily use rather than investing, our guide to the best budget Samsung phones with Galaxy AI features shows where this tech actually lands locally.
For now, treat the $30 billion figure as reported, not confirmed. If the deal lands, expect the rest of the AI search pack to start raising on the same slide.
