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Confluent explores potential sale amid rising AI data demand

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Confluent, a leading data streaming software company, is exploring a potential sale after attracting acquisition interest from private equity firms and technology companies, sources told Reuters. The discussions are still in early stages, with no guarantee a deal will materialize.

Shares of Confluent (CFLT.O) jumped 11% on Wednesday following the report, lifting its market value to about $7.9 billion. The move comes after the company’s stock fell 26% this year, making it a more appealing target for potential buyers, particularly after it lost a major customer in July.

Based in Mountain View, California, Confluent provides enterprise software that manages real-time data streams — a critical function for training and scaling artificial intelligence models. The firm was founded by the creators of Apache Kafka, an open-source system widely used for handling large volumes of live data such as financial transactions and web analytics.

The growing interest underscores the surge in demand for data infrastructure tools amid the AI boom. In May, Salesforce agreed to buy Informatica for about $8 billion to enhance its AI data management capabilities, signaling broader consolidation in the sector.

Confluent has not commented publicly on the talks. Industry analysts say any acquisition could mark a major shift in the AI software landscape as companies race to strengthen their data processing capabilities.

Apple Explores Potential Acquisition of AI Startup Perplexity, Bloomberg Reports

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Apple (AAPL.O) executives have held early internal discussions about possibly bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity, according to a Bloomberg News report on Friday citing sources familiar with the matter. However, the talks are in preliminary stages and may not result in an offer, with no direct communication reported between Apple and Perplexity management.

Perplexity stated it has no knowledge of any current or future merger and acquisition discussions involving the company. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This potential move aligns with a broader trend of major tech companies ramping up investments in AI technologies to strengthen their competitive edge amid growing demand for AI-powered services. Bloomberg also reported that Meta Platforms (META.O) had attempted to acquire Perplexity earlier this year. Meta recently announced a $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI and appointed its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead a new superintelligence division.

Apple’s head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, has reportedly discussed the possibility with services chief Eddy Cue and top AI leaders. The company aims to integrate AI-driven search functionalities, like those from Perplexity AI, into its Safari browser, which could reduce its reliance on Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google — a longtime default search partner.

This shift comes amid ongoing U.S. Department of Justice efforts to limit Google’s dominance in online search, including proposals to ban payments that secure default search engine status. While traditional search engines like Google remain dominant globally, AI-powered search tools such as Perplexity and ChatGPT are gaining traction, particularly among younger users.

Perplexity recently completed a funding round valuing the startup at $14 billion, making any acquisition deal at that scale potentially Apple’s largest to date. The Nvidia-backed company offers AI search services that provide users with summarized information, similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.