Perplexity signs $750 million deal with Microsoft

AI startup Perplexity has signed a $750 million agreement with Microsoft to use its Azure cloud services, according to a Bloomberg report.

The three-year deal will give Perplexity access to a range of AI models through Microsoft's Foundry program, including systems from OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that Perplexity has chosen Microsoft Foundry as its primary platform for "model sourcing."

A Perplexity spokesperson told Bloomberg the partnership is for accessing leading AI models and clarified that the startup has not shifted its spending away from its main cloud provider, Amazon Web Services.

As per a Reuters report on the matter, the deal follows a lawsuit filed by Amazon against Perplexity last year over an automated shopping feature, which Amazon alleged covertly accessed customer accounts.