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Snap and Perplexity AI have struck a $400 million deal that will bring the AI search engine directly to Snapchat sometime in “early 2026,” the two companies announced<\/a>. With the partnership, Perplexity’s AI search engine will be a prominent part of Snapchat’s “chat” interface so users can “ask questions and get clear, conversational answers drawn from verifiable sources, all within Snapchat.”<\/p>\n The news was announced alongside the company’s third-quarter earnings. The company said that revenue from the deal \u2014 Perplexity is paying Snap $400 million for the integration \u2014 is “expected to begin contributing” to the company’s bottom line in 2026. In a letter<\/a> to shareholders, CEO Evan Spiegel also hinted that Snap could pursue similar partnerships with other AI companies. “This collaboration makes AI-powered discovery native to Snapchat, enhances personalization, and positions Snap as a leading distribution channel for intelligent agents, laying the groundwork for a broader ecosystem of AI partners to reach our global community,” he wrote.<\/p>\n Snap, like its peers, has been leaning into generative AI in recent years. The company has its own LLM-powered chatbot, called MyAI, which uses models<\/a> from OpenAI, Google and, soon, Perplexity AI. Snap has also introduced AI-powered lenses<\/a> and creation tools<\/a>, which have helped boost its Snapchat+ subscription service.<\/p>\n Spiegel also teased other AI-powered updates coming to Snapchat. He said the company is working on a new AI video generation feature called “AI Clips” that “will allow creators to generate short, shareable videos from simple prompts.” He didn\u2019t say when the feature might launch.<\/p>\n Outside of Snapchat, Snap is also planning on launching a new version of its AR glasses, called Specs, sometime next year<\/a>. Spiegel didn\u2019t offer any new details about the device, which he has previously promised will be lighter-weight than the current version. He did, however, suggest the company was considering working with potential hardware partners. He said Snap would be \u201cputting Specs into their own standalone, 100% owned subsidiary\u201d to give the company more flexibility to pursue such arrangements.<\/p>\n