Apple’s AI Wake-Up Call: Is Perplexity the Cure for Siri’s Midlife Crisis?

Apple’s long-standing philosophy of slow-and-steady innovation might’ve built a trillion-dollar empire, but in the AI race, it’s starting to look more like slow-and-sedated. With Siri still fumbling basic commands while ChatGPT is out here writing wedding vows and debugging code, Apple’s carefully manicured walled garden is beginning to feel a little… dated.

Even Tim Cook, normally a master of polished understatement, has come out and said it: Apple is “very open to M&A that accelerates our road map.” Which, translated from Tim-speak, roughly means: We’re behind. Really behind. And we need help.

The Siri Situation: If It Ain’t Broke, Delay It Anyway

Siri was once the crown jewel of Apple’s ecosystem, a pocket assistant that made you feel like you lived in the future. Now, it’s more like a forgetful intern with performance anxiety. Apple’s internal “LLM Siri” project has been riddled with delays, now expected no sooner than 2026. Which is a bit like announcing a shiny new cassette player in 2028.

To make matters worse, Apple’s AI brain trust has seen a slow but steady exodus to rivals like Meta. The company’s reorganised AI units, including the newly formed “Answers, Knowledge and Information” group (yes, really), seem to suggest Apple has finally realised that bolting generative AI onto Siri isn’t a weekend job.

In classic Apple fashion, the company is taking a two-track approach: spin up internal teams, and scout for someone to acquire who’s already done the hard work.

The Shortlist: Who’s Worth Buying?

With $160 billion in cash lying around, Apple could technically buy a small country. But buying an AI company with a good fit? That’s a harder ask.

• OpenAI & Anthropic – Brilliant tech, sky-high valuations. Also about as acquirable as Google itself. Not happening.

• Google DeepMind & Meta AI – Yes, and next we’ll buy NASA.

• Mistral AI & Cohere – Promising and affordable(ish). But still not quite the full package.

• Stability AI – Interesting, if your goal is to burn cash on artsy experiments and attract regulatory headaches.

And then there’s Perplexity AI.

Enter Perplexity: The Search Engine That Doesn’t Feel Like One

Perplexity AI might just be Apple’s Goldilocks option, strategically aligned, financially realistic, and not (yet) eaten by Microsoft.

• Conversational search? Check.

• Agentic task automation? Check.

• A shot at dethroning Google as the default search layer on Safari? Double check.

Perplexity’s ability to provide direct, cited answers and perform multi-step tasks could immediately give Siri the glow-up it so desperately needs. Suddenly Siri’s not just telling you the weather, she’s booking your trip, rebooking it when your flight’s cancelled, and asking if you’d like dinner reservations in the meantime.

At a reported $25–30 billion price tag, it would be Apple’s largest acquisition ever. But for a company sitting on enough spare change to fund NASA’s next three Mars missions, it’s not a dealbreaker.

But What About the Regulators?

Of course, it wouldn’t be a tech acquisition in 2025 without a healthy dose of antitrust drama. Apple’s already under scrutiny, and bringing Perplexity under the umbrella would only attract more eyeballs. There’s also the minor PR headache of Perplexity’s checkered history with scraped content.

Still, Apple could make a compelling case: “We’re the underdog in search. We’re the good guys. Look, privacy!”

What Apple Actually Gains

• A Revived Siri – One that doesn’t fumble when you ask it to remind you of your wife’s birthday.

• Less Dependence on Google – Finally an exit ramp from the awkward deal where Apple makes billions by directing users to a rival’s search engine.

• An AI Orchestration Layer – A smart routing system that picks the right AI model (on-device, cloud, or third-party) based on your query. Seamless. Private. Very Apple.

• Top Talent – Engineers from OpenAI and Meta come as part of the package. Think of it as importing a new brain for Cupertino.

The Bottom Line

Perplexity AI won’t just patch up Siri, it could help Apple leapfrog back into the front row of the AI race. And in the long game of AI-enabled ecosystems, whoever controls the assistant probably controls the customer.

For Apple, the question isn’t whether to buy Perplexity. It’s whether they can afford not to.