Meta Discussed Buying Perplexity Before Investing in Scale (1)

Meta Platforms Inc. held discussions with artificial intelligence search startup Perplexity AI Inc. about a possible takeover before moving ahead with a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter.

The two companies couldn’t come to an agreement and decided not to pursue the deal, said the people, who asked not to be named as the details of the talks aren’t public. The financial terms under discussion could not be learned. Perplexity recently closed a new round of funding at a $14 billion valuation.

Meta also attempted to hire Perplexity Chief Executive Officer Aravind Srinivas ...