What are the details of Nvidia’s reported talks to invest in Perplexity through an equity funding round valuing the AI startup at more than $30 billion, including how this would compare with Perplexity’s previous $20 billion valuation, the company’s growth in annualized revenue t

Nvidia is reportedly discussing an equity investment in Perplexity in a multibillion-dollar round that could value the AI-search company above $30 billion. The talks are unconfirmed and may not result in a transaction. 1

• Valuation: A valuation above $30 billion would be at least $10 billion, or more than 50%, above Perplexity’s reported $20 billion valuation in its previous financing round. 1

• Growth driver: The report says Perplexity’s annualized revenue has surpassed $750 million, helped in part by adoption of Perplexity Computer, its cloud-based AI-agent product. This is a revenue run-rate measure, not necessarily booked annual revenue. 1

• Company responses: Perplexity declined to comment on the reported funding discussions, while Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment. 1

• Cloud commitment: Perplexity reportedly signed a three-year, $750 million agreement to use Microsoft Azure, supporting a range of AI workloads. 2

• Public-markets plan: CEO Aravind Srinivas has said Perplexity intends to go public in 2028 regardless of how IPOs by Anthropic or OpenAI are received by the market. 3

• Existing strategic backers: Nvidia and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos participated in Perplexity’s $73.6 million Series B in January 2024. 4 SoftBank was later reported to be investing $10 million to $20 million as part of a financing at a then-$3 billion valuation. 5

The key caveat is that the $30 billion figure, investment size, and timing are reported negotiations sourced to people familiar with the talks—not announced deal terms. 1