Nvidia in Talks to Invest in Perplexity at $30 Billion-Plus Valuation

Nvidia is talking to Perplexity about putting money into the AI search startup as part of an equity funding round that would value the company north of $30 billion, according to The Information, which cited people with knowledge of the discussions. Reuters picked up the report Sunday, August 23, and it's since been echoed by NDTV Profit, Rappler, the Economic Times, and others.

No deal is signed. Perplexity declined to comment. Nvidia hasn't responded publicly. This is a discussion, not an announcement, and every outlet reporting it is ultimately relying on the same original account from The Information.

The numbers, if they hold up

A $30 billion-plus valuation would be more than a 50% jump from Perplexity's last funding round about a year ago, when The Information reported in September 2025 that the company had finalized a $20 billion valuation, according to Reuters. The Free Press Journal adds more texture: Perplexity was valued around $23 billion in a Series E-6 round that closed in January 2026, and before that around $121 million back in 2023.

Crypto Briefing frames the jump differently, comparing today's talks to Perplexity's Series B round in January 2024, when the company raised $73.6 million at roughly a $520 million valuation. By that math, a $30 billion price tag is a 57x increase in under two years. Both comparisons are true. They're just measuring from different starting points, so don't be surprised if you see wildly different "X times bigger" numbers floating around.

The revenue growth is the more interesting number, and it's independently confirmed across nearly every source in this story. Perplexity's annualized revenue climbed from less than $250 million at the start of 2026 to more than $750 million now, according to The Information's reporting as relayed by Reuters and NDTV Profit. The Free Press Journal notes the company had reported roughly $450 million ARR earlier this year, meaning a big chunk of that growth happened fast in recent months.

Part of that growth is credited to Perplexity Computer, a cloud-based AI agent that automates computer tasks for professionals, according to the sourcing behind the Reuters report. The Free Press Journal also points to the Comet AI browser and a "Comet Assistant" agent layer as revenue drivers.

Nvidia's not new to this

Nvidia isn't just showing up. It backed Perplexity's Series B round in 2024 and has invested multiple times since, according to KuCoin's coverage citing Chinese financial outlet Jinshi. CEO Jensen Huang has said in interviews he uses Perplexity as his go-to chatbot.

The Free Press Journal reports something the other outlets don't dwell on. Before circling back to a straight equity investment, Nvidia reportedly considered other paths, including a technology licensing arrangement and even hiring some of Perplexity's staff. NDTV Profit's version says Nvidia had "previously mulled paying Perplexity billions of dollars to license some technology and hire staff." Crypto Briefing frames the current talks themselves as centered on "a licensing agreement that would involve funding," which is a slightly different read than Reuters' framing of a straightforward equity round. Whether this deal is structured as equity, licensing, or some hybrid isn't settled across sources.

Perplexity has raised more than $1.7 billion total, according to KuCoin, from a backer list that includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, SoftBank Group, New Enterprise Associates, Accel, and IVP. Earlier in 2026, Perplexity also signed a $750 million cloud computing agreement with Microsoft to use Azure, according to a Bloomberg News report cited by Reuters.

Why Nvidia keeps doing this

Nvidia investing in AI startups that build products on top of Nvidia chips is a pattern, not a one-off, according to the Free Press Journal's framing. More capital flowing into companies like Perplexity means more demand for Nvidia's hardware and closer relationships with the next generation of AI products. It's a smart, self-interested move.

The timing matters too. Nvidia reports fiscal second-quarter earnings on August 26, according to MarketBeat, and NVDA shares have weakened lately as investors demand proof that hyperscaler AI spending, demand for Nvidia's next-gen "Rubin" chips, margins, and forward guidance remain strong. A splashy new AI investment doesn't change Nvidia's core chip business, but it does keep the company's name in the AI-momentum conversation right as Wall Street scrutinizes whether that momentum is real or overhyped.

CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC in June that Perplexity plans to go public in 2028 regardless of how markets receive the pending listings of Anthropic and OpenAI, according to Reuters. Whether a $30 billion valuation today makes that IPO math work in two years is the real open question. Revenue tripling in eight months is a genuinely strong signal. Whether it justifies a 57x jump from a 2024 funding round, or even a 50% jump from last year's round, is something only public markets will eventually settle.