Snap Inc. has secured San Francisco-based Perplexity as its new partner in artificial intelligence, with Perplexity’s AI-powered answer engine to become an in-app feature of social service Snapchat starting in early 2026. Snapchat’s community of over 943 million monthly active users will be able to converse with Perplexity, asking questions and getting “clear, conversational answers drawn from verifiable sources,” Snap explains. Perplexity will pay Snap $400 million over the next year through a combination of cash and equity, gaining access to Snap’s mobile-native audience, comprised of more than 75 percent of 13–34-year-olds in over 25 countries.

“Snap gets a much-needed revenue boost” from the agreement, says Bloomberg, noting “Snap investors were thrilled,” its stock jumping as much as 27 percent on the news.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said the company sees “a lot of opportunity to open up Snapchat to more AI partners over time,” with advertisers proffering  their own chatbots “clamoring to get into Snapchat, too.” Eventually, Spiegel says he envisions Snapchat ads bringing users into direct interaction with marketers.

Snapchat rolled out its own My AI capability to all users in 2023 and will keep it available, but Spiegel doesn’t see it as an either/or situation. “The Perplexity integration marks a first step in Snap’s effort to make Snapchat a platform where leading AI companies can connect with its global community in creative and trusted ways,” according to a Snap news post.

My AI “uses models from OpenAI, Google and, soon, Perplexity AI,” writes Engadget, adding that “Snap has also introduced AI-powered lenses and creation tools, which have helped boost its Snapchat+ subscription service.”

Snap announced the news last week along with its third quarter earnings, with sales up 10 percent to $1.51 billion, versus the $1.49 billion expected, reports CNBC. Snap had a Q3 net loss of $104 million, but remained bullish, disclosing a $500 million stock repurchase plan.

“Snap is also planning on launching a new version of its AR glasses, called Specs, sometime next year,” Engadget reminded readers, noting that “Spiegel didn’t offer any new details about the device, which he has previously promised will be lighter-weight than the current version,” but did suggest the company is “considering working with potential hardware partners.”

Snap plans to market Specs through a newly created subsidiary that it owns in order to have “more flexibility to pursue such arrangements,” Engadget adds.