Meta discussed buying Perplexity before Scale AI investment – Bloomberg

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) held discussions with artificial intelligence search startup Perplexity AI about a possible takeover before going forward with its multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, reported Bloomberg News on Friday.

The two companies couldn’t come to an agreement and decided not to pursue the deal, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Meta and Perplexity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Meta announced a $14.3 billion investment in Scale, acquiring a 49% stake and valuing the San Francisco-based company at over $29 billion. A key aspect of the deal included Scale CEO Alexandr Wang joining Meta to head its “superintelligence” team focused on artificial general intelligence.

Scale AI, which was founded in 2016, provides access to a network of human trainers with specialized knowledge to generative AI model makers.

Meta’s aggressive push into superintelligence research, or as many call it, artificial general intelligence, or AGI is part of Mark Zuckerberg’s broader strategy to revitalize the company’s AI ambitions.