by AI Journalist

Alex McFarland

Fact Checked by Alexandra Pankratyeva

Updated on 12 September 2024

When it comes to AI search engines, Perplexity AI has been consistently making waves with its innovative approach. As it challenges traditional search giants, many wonder who stands behind this AI-powered search engine.

So, who owns Perplexity AI in 2024? In this article, we discuss Perplexity AI’s ownership structure and founding story and explore how it’s reimagining the way we interact with information online.

By exploring what Perplexity AI is, its founding team, and its journey from a nascent idea to a billion-dollar valuation, we’ll see the driving forces behind this conversational AI platform.

Key Takeaways

• Perplexity AI is a privately held company founded by four tech industry veterans in 2022.
• Aravind Srinivas serves as the CEO of Perplexity AI, bringing expertise from OpenAI and Google Brain.
• The company’s valuation reached over $1 billion following a recent funding round, achieving unicorn status.
• Perplexity AI has secured significant investments from notable figures and companies in the tech industry.
• As a private entity, Perplexity AI does not have a public stock price and is not traded on any stock exchange.

The Bottom Line

Table of Contents

Perplexity AI’s Co-Founders

Perplexity AI’s founders comprise a team of four visionary tech experts, each bringing unique skills and experiences to the table. These individuals came together with a shared goal of transforming the traditional search engine experience through advanced AI technology.

As the CEO of Perplexity AI and key Perplexity AI founder, Srinivas brings a wealth of experience in AI research. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and has previously worked at prestigious organizations such as OpenAI, DeepMind, and Google Brain.

The question of who made Perplexity AI goes beyond just naming the founders; it’s about understanding their shared vision.

These four Perplexity AI founders were united by a common frustration with the limitations of traditional search engines and the untapped potential of large language models.

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They envisioned a search experience that could:

• Understand context
• Provide direct answers
• Engage with users in a more natural, conversational manner

Perplexity AI’s Creation: From the Ground Up to Accelerated Growth

When Was Perplexity AI Founded?

Perplexity AI was founded in the summer of 2022 in San Francisco, California, placing it at the heart of the tech industry’s innovation hub.

Core Mission

The company’s core mission from the outset was to “democratize access to knowledge.”

The founders aimed to create an AI-powered search engine that could understand and respond to complex queries with accuracy and context, moving beyond the traditional list of links provided by conventional search engines.

Their goals included:

1. Developing an advanced natural language processing system capable of understanding nuanced queries
2. Creating a user-friendly interface that facilitates conversational interactions
3. Ensuring transparency in information sourcing through clear citations
4. Providing real-time, up-to-date information to users

Initial Stages

In the initial stages, the Perplexity AI CEO and team focused on refining their core technology, integrating various language models, and developing their unique approach to AI-powered search.

They launched their “answer engine” in late 2022, quickly gaining attention for its innovative approach to information retrieval.

Rapid Growth

The company’s growth accelerated rapidly, driven by positive user experiences and word-of-mouth recommendations.

By leveraging advanced AI technologies and maintaining a user-centric approach, Perplexity AI quickly established itself as a serious contender in the search engine market, setting the stage for its impressive funding rounds and valuation growth in the following years.

Current Ownership of Perplexity AI

The question of who owns Perplexity AI doesn’t have a simple answer, as the company’s ownership is distributed among its founders, employees, and investors.

As a privately held company, Perplexity AI’s exact ownership breakdown is not publicly disclosed.

However, it’s clear that the four co-founders—Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski—retain significant ownership stakes in the company they created.

Perplexity AI’s Investors

Perplexity AI’s investors represent a diverse group of venture capital firms and notable individuals from the tech industry. Some of the key investors include:

1. IVP (Institutional Venture Partners): Led Perplexity’s Series B funding round
2. Daniel Gross: Former head of AI at Y Combinator
3. Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder
4. Nvidia: Leading AI and graphics processing company
5. Databricks Ventures: AI and data analytics firm
6. NEA (New Enterprise Associates): Global venture capital firm
7. Elad Gil: Prominent tech investor and entrepreneur
8. Nat Friedman: Former CEO of GitHub
9. Tobi Lutke: Shopify CEO
10. Brad Gerstner: Altimeter Capital founder

Other notable participants in recent funding rounds include OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, and Figma CEO Dylan Field.

This impressive roster of Perplexity AI investors underscores the company’s potential and the confidence it has garnered within the tech industry.

As of early 2024, the Perplexity valuation exceeded $1 billion, earning it ‘unicorn’ status in the startup world.

Is Perplexity AI Publicly Traded?

Perplexity AI is not a public company. As a privately held entity, it does not have a perplexity AI stock listed on any public stock exchange.

Private status means that:

1. Ownership is limited to founders, employees, and private investors.
2. The company is not required to disclose detailed financial information to the public.
3. Investment opportunities are generally restricted to accredited investors and venture capital firms.
4. The company has more flexibility in its strategic decisions without the pressure of quarterly earnings reports.

While there’s no Perplexity stock price available for public trading, the company’s valuation has been reported based on its latest funding rounds. As of early 2024, Perplexity AI achieved a valuation exceeding $1 billion, earning it “unicorn” status.

For those interested in investing in Perplexity AI, it’s crucial to understand that as a private company, investment opportunities are limited.

However, the company’s rapid growth and impressive funding rounds suggest that it may consider going public in the future, though no official plans have been announced as of this writing.

How Does Perplexity AI Work?

To understand how Perplexity AI works, we need to look at its core technology. Perplexity AI leverages advanced natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to provide a conversational search experience.

Here’s a breakdown of its key components:

Multiple Language ModelsReal-time Web SearchContext-Aware ResponsesSource Citation

Perplexity AI utilizes various large language models, including GPT-4, Claude, and its own proprietary models.

Perplexity AI Interface

While Perplexity AI offers a free service, it has also introduced a premium subscription model called Perplexity Pro. This tiered approach allows for multiple revenue streams:

1. Free Tier: Attracts a wide user base and generates data for improvement.
2. Perplexity Pro: Offers advanced features like GPT-4 access and higher usage limits for a subscription fee.
3. Potential for Enterprise Solutions: Although not currently a focus, there’s room for tailored solutions for businesses.

Perplexity AI positions itself as a next-generation search engine, bridging the gap between traditional search engines and AI chatbots.

Comparison With Competitors

Perplexity AI faces competition from both established search engines and emerging AI-powered platforms:

The dominant player in search, Google has been integrating AI into its services.

Perplexity AI differentiates itself through its real-time search capabilities, transparent sourcing, and focus on providing direct answers rather than just links.

Perplexity AI Funding Rounds & Investments

Perplexity AI funding has been impressive, reflecting strong investor confidence. Key funding milestones include:

The substantial Perplexity AI funding not only provides the necessary capital for growth but also serves as a strong vote of confidence from the investor community in the company’s vision and potential to disrupt the search engine market.

Perplexity AI Controversies & Challenges

As Perplexity AI has gained prominence in the AI-powered search engine market, it has also faced its share of controversies, primarily centered around content attribution and potential plagiarism. These issues have raised important questions about the ethical use of AI in information retrieval and dissemination.

Lack of Proper Attribution

In June 2024, Forbes accused Perplexity AI of “ripping off” a paywalled article about ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s involvement in a secret military drone project. The AI-generated summary was allegedly very similar to the original article and lacked proper attribution.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas acknowledged the issue, attributing it to the newness of the “Perplexity Pages” feature and committed to improving the visibility of contributing sources.

Inaccurate Paraphrasing & Unauthorized Web Scraping

In another instance, Wired reported that Perplexity was paraphrasing its stories, sometimes inaccurately and with minimal attribution. The publication alleged that Perplexity bypassed publishers who had indicated that AI web scraping was off-limits via website code.

Perplexity AI has also been accused of not complying with accepted web standards like robots.txt files, which instruct bots on which pages they can access. Wired found that Perplexity was able to scrape and summarize its content despite prohibiting AI bots. This raised concerns about respect for publisher preferences and copyright issues.

Tensions Between Perplexity AI & News Publishers

These controversies have led to increasing tensions between Perplexity AI and news publishers. Forbes has threatened legal action, demanding that Perplexity improve its citations and reimburse ad revenue generated from content based on Forbes’ reporting.

In response to these challenges, Perplexity AI announced plans in July 2024 to share revenue with publishers through a new partnership program. This move aims to address the concerns raised by content creators and publishers.

Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity AI, has acknowledged these issues and expressed the company’s commitment to improving their practices.

The Bottom Line

Perplexity, founded by a team of tech industry veterans led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, has rapidly established itself as a formidable player in the AI-powered search engine market.

With a valuation exceeding $1 billion and backing from high-profile investors, Perplexity AI’s privately-held status allows it to focus on long-term innovation without the pressures of a public stock price.

However, recent controversies surrounding content attribution highlight the challenges ahead for Perplexity AI’s owners and leadership.

As the Perplexity company continues to refine its technology and address ethical concerns, it offers valuable insights into the dynamics of innovation and ownership in the AI industry.

Whether Perplexity AI maintains its private status or eventually goes public, its approach to balancing technological advancement with responsible growth will likely shape the future of how we access and interact with information online.