Meta tried to buy AI startup Perplexity AI before dropping $14.3 billion on Scale AI, CNBC confirmed Friday.
The deal talks with Perplexity didn’t close. Sources say it was “mutually dissolved.” Another said Perplexity walked away.
The move shows how hard Meta is pushing on AI amid tough competition from OpenAI and Alphabet. Mark Zuckerberg’s been scrambling to catch up on AI models and apps, even offering huge pay packages to top talent. 
Meta now owns 49% of Scale AI, but without voting power. Scale’s founder Alexandr Wang and some employees will join Meta as part of the deal.
Earlier this year, Meta also tried to buy Safe Superintelligence, reportedly valued at $32 billion. Safe’s CEO Daniel Gross and ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman are now working at Meta under Wang.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on the “Uncapped” podcast that Meta offered OpenAI employees signing bonuses up to $100 million.
Sam Altman stated:
"I’ve heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor,"
"Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they have hoped and I respect being aggressive and continuing to try new things."
