Nvidia discusses Perplexity investment at $30 billion-plus valuation, The Information reports

Aug. 23 (Reuters) - Nvidia is in talks to invest in Perplexity as part of an equity funding round that would value the AI startup at more than $30 billion, The Information reported on Sunday, citing people with knowledge of the discussion.

The funding round would increase Perplexity's valuation by more than 50% from its previous financing a year ago, according to the report.

Perplexity's annualized revenue has risen to more than $750 million from less than $250 million at the start of the year, the report said. Part of the revenue growth has been driven by Perplexity Computer, a cloud-based AI agent used by professionals to automate computer-based tasks, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

Perplexity declined to comment on the Information report, while Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Information reported in September last year that Perplexity had finalized a $20 billion valuation.

Earlier this year, Perplexity signed a $750 million agreement with Microsoft to use its Azure cloud service, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Perplexity is planning to go public in 2028 regardless of how the market receives the listings of Anthropic and OpenAI, CEO Aravind Srinivas told CNBC in an interview in June.

The startup's high-profile backers, along with Nvidia, include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Japan's SoftBank Group.