Apple's record with AI hasn't been that great. What started off strong with a partnership with OpenAI has yet to really produce much for the iPhone maker. The company introduced Apple Intelligence last year and said it was going to overhaul its digital assistant Siri by making it smarter and able to understand more tasks.

Such an acquisition could help Apple create its own AI-powered search engine. This is part of a broader strategy to mitigate the potential loss of its long-standing agreement with Google, a partnership that earns Apple roughly $20 billion annually by making Google the default browser on its devices.

The publication cited sources as saying that the talks are in an early stage and may not lead to an acquisition. Perplexity reportedly received a $14 billion valuation in a recent funding round. To be accepted, any takeout offer made by Apple would likely have to be higher.