Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity has struck a major deal with Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, to bring its AI-powered search technology directly into the popular social platform.
Announced on Thursday, the partnership will see Perplexity pay Snap $400 million in a mix of cash and equity as part of a multi-year agreement. The move represents one of the largest AI integration deals in the social media space to date — and could mark a turning point in how users discover information within social apps.
Under the agreement, Perplexity’s conversational search engine will be embedded into Snapchat’s interface, giving more than 940 million monthly users the ability to receive direct, AI-generated answers to their queries through the app’s built-in My AI chatbot. The integration is expected to roll out globally in early 2026, with Snap beginning to record revenue from the deal that same year.
Snap says the partnership aligns with its broader vision to deepen the role of artificial intelligence across its platform — enhancing the user experience and creating new opportunities for monetization. For Perplexity, the integration offers a massive distribution channel and visibility boost in one of the world’s most heavily used social apps.
Founded in 2022, Perplexity has quickly emerged as one of the most promising challengers in the AI search space. Its model is designed to provide concise, verifiable answers drawn from multiple web sources — an approach that directly competes with Google’s Search Generative Experience and Microsoft’s Copilot. Integrating its AI assistant into Snapchat could dramatically expand its reach and data feedback loop, improving its performance and accuracy over time.
The announcement came alongside Snap’s third-quarter 2025 financial results, in which the company reported revenue of $1.51 billion, representing a 10% year-on-year increase. Snap also narrowed its quarterly loss to $104 million, down from $153 million in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the company’s subscription product, Snapchat+, continues to grow steadily, now boasting more than 17 million paying users. The subscription tier offers early access to experimental features — including My AI — which will likely play a key role in the rollout of the Perplexity integration.
By joining forces with Perplexity, Snap is not only embracing AI as a core layer of its future product strategy but also positioning itself at the forefront of next-generation social search. The collaboration could transform Snapchat from a chat-centric platform into a dynamic discovery hub — where entertainment, information, and communication converge through intelligent automation.
