Samsung Electronics Co. is nearing a significant deal to invest in Perplexity AI Inc. and integrate the AI startup’s search technology into its devices, Bloomberg reported.
Samsung reportedly plans to announce the integration of Perplexity AI’s technology as early as this year, aiming to establish it as the default assistant option for the Galaxy S26 series, scheduled for release in the first half of 2026. However, the specific details remain subject to change as they are not yet finalized.
Sources familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the talks, indicate that the two companies are discussing preloading Perplexity’s app and assistant on upcoming Samsung devices and embedding its search capabilities into the Samsung web browser. Additionally, the companies have explored enhancing Samsung’s Bixby virtual assistant with Perplexity’s technology.
Samsung is also reportedly expected to be a significant investor in Perplexity’s upcoming funding round. As per Bloomberg, the AI start-up is in advanced discussions to raise $500 million at a $14 billion valuation.
Perplexity-PayPal Partnership
Perplexity AI has partnered with PayPal to enable direct purchases through its chat interface, enhancing its agentic-commerce capabilities, a growing trend where AI agents assist with shopping and handle transactions.
Starting this summer in the United States, Perplexity Pro users can check out instantly using PayPal or Venmo for tasks like finding products, planning vacations, or buying tickets. Payments will be processed via the chat interface, with PayPal managing processing, shipping, tracking, and billing, and purchases completed with a single click using PayPal’s passkey checkout.
“Perplexity wants to be wherever users are asking questions and making decisions,” said Ryan Foutty, Perplexity’s vice-president of business. “Our vision for assistive AI is that everything becomes better and easier for people wherever they are and however they prefer to make decisions.”
The partnership extends Perplexity’s commerce solutions to PayPal’s over 430 million active accounts across nearly 200 countries. Like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, Perplexity provides information by searching the internet and is backed by investors including Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Japan’s SoftBank Group.
It offers a range of products, including shirts, jackets, hoodies, co-ords, sweaters and innerwear through its website, physical stores and e-commerce marketplaces.
