Perplexity AI in Talks for New Funding Round at $9 Billion Valuation

Just weeks after OpenAI completed a staggering $6.6 billion financing round, vaulting its valuation to $157 billion, another AI contender is making headlines.

Perplexity AI, a rising star in the artificial intelligence world, is in early talks to secure more than $500 million in funding, with its valuation set to skyrocket to $9 billion, according to multiple media reports.

Perplexity AI isn't just riding the wave of the AI boom; it is taking direct aim at the titans of search like Google search and OpenAI's incoming SearchGPT, which has been released.

Google, with its jaw-dropping 8.5 billion daily search queries, has long been the unchallenged king. However, AI-powered search is poised to be the next phase of search and Perplexity is hoping to carved out a niche for itself in that space, already handling 15 million queries a day, according to the WSJ — tiny by comparison, but impressive for a relatively young player in the AI-powered search, a technology Google is yet to integrate fully.

Meanwhile, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon are the other big names that are also experimenting with AI-powered search features and may have an edge in terms of technology and infrastructure.

But Perplexity's formula seems to be working. The company has already completed three funding rounds this year, and if the latest talks materialize, it could see its valuation triple from $3 billion earlier this year to a potential $9 billion. It also boasts an annualized revenues of $50 million.

This surge in interest around Perplexity mirrors the broader frenzy in AI, where startups are scrambling to gain market share before giants like OpenAI further solidify their dominance.

Investors like SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Nvidia have already backed Perplexity, signaling strong confidence in its future.

The company will use this influx of resources to enhance its technological capabilities, boost its market presence, and aim for greater recognition in a field still dominated by OpenAI.

As generative AI continues to disrupt industries, Perplexity is positioning itself to compete at the highest levels. Whether it can truly rival the likes of Google and OpenAI remains to be seen.