Perplexity AI is negotiating a $500m funding round, valuing the company at $14bn, reports CNBC.  

Accel is leading the round, sources told the publication.  

The funding is at the lower end of Perplexity’s initial goal of $500m to $1bn at an $18bn valuation.  

The AI search engine company competes with Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. 

Its valuation has increased significantly, from $3bn in June 2024 to $9bn in December the same year.  

Perplexity AI’s annual recurring revenue is just under $100m, sources said.   

In April 2025, it was reported that the company seeks to integrate its virtual assistant into major smartphone brands, including Samsung Electronics and Motorola. 

It has held early discussions with Samsung Electronics to embed its AI assistant into Samsung devices.  

Potential agreements include setting Perplexity as a default AI assistant or pre-installing its app on Samsung devices. Samsung may also feature the assistant prominently within the Galaxy Store. 

Perplexity AI has confirmed a partnership with Motorola, a division of Lenovo Group, to incorporate its assistant into their devices.  

The Motorola agreement will see Perplexity preloaded on Motorola devices as an alternative to Google’s Gemini. 

Perplexity AI is capitalising on the generative AI boom that began with OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.  

The company is focusing on its upcoming AI agent web browser, Comet.  

However, it faces increasing competition in the AI search market. 

In March 2025, Anthropic launched its web search product, allowing its chatbot Claude to display real-time search results.  

OpenAI launched a search feature within ChatGPT, competing with Perplexity and leading search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing.  

Google released AI Overviews within its search product, though it faced controversy over errors. 

XAI Holdings, the AI and social media conglomerate established by Elon Musk, is also currently discussing a new funding round with unnamed investors to secure around $20bn.  

The potential deal would reportedly value XAI Holdings at more than $120bn.