Nvidia is in talks to invest in Perplexity as part of an equity round that would value the AI search startup at more than $30 billion, The Information reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the discussions. Perplexity declined to comment; Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment.
The reported Nvidia Perplexity investment would push the valuation up by more than 50% from a year ago, when Perplexity finalised a round at $20 billion. The money has followed growth: annualised revenue has risen to more than $750 million from under $250 million at the start of the year, The Information said, with part of the increase driven by Perplexity Computer, a cloud-based AI agent that automates computer-based tasks for professionals.
Why the Nvidia Perplexity investment matters
Nvidia built its fortune selling the chips AI companies train and run on. A stake in Perplexity would take it one step downstream, into the applications built on top of that infrastructure — the same logic as Nvidia’s reported $5 billion bet on Safe Superintelligence. The Information also reported that Nvidia had considered a technology-licensing deal with the startup rather than an equity investment.
The talks land three days before Nvidia’s own earnings, due on Wednesday. Perplexity’s existing backers include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Japan’s SoftBank; the reported round would add the chip maker to that list. The company is also a large AI-infrastructure customer, having signed a $750 million agreement with Microsoft to use Azure earlier this year, and CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC in June that Perplexity plans to go public in 2028.
What the talks mean for the UAE’s AI sector
The UAE is already a participant in the race for AI compute. Abu Dhabi’s MGX — backed by Mubadala and G42 and chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed — closed a $49 billion AI fund in July and holds stakes in Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI. It has partnered with Nvidia before, co-developing what could become Europe’s largest AI campus near Paris.
The pattern will look familiar to UAE investors: the companies selling and funding AI’s infrastructure are increasingly taking equity in the applications built on top of it. Perplexity is available in the UAE, where its search and agent tools are already used by professionals.
The numbers at a glance
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Reported valuation in talks | Above $30 billion |
| Previous round (Sept 2025) | $20 billion |
| Annualised revenue (2026) | Above $750 million |
| Revenue at start of 2026 | Under $250 million |
| Perplexity Computer price | $200/month (Max tier) |
What is Perplexity?
Perplexity is an AI search and answer engine founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas and three co-founders. It combines web search with conversational AI answers, competing with Google Search and ChatGPT.
How much is Perplexity worth?
The startup finalised a funding round at a $20 billion valuation in September 2025. The Information reports that Nvidia’s talks are part of a round that would value Perplexity above $30 billion — up more than 50%.
What is Perplexity Computer?
A cloud-based AI agent launched in February 2026 that automates computer-based tasks such as research, coding and document work. It costs $200 a month as part of Perplexity’s Max subscription and is a key driver of the company’s recent revenue growth.
