In April, Perplexity accomplished a significant feat with a valuation of $1 billion. Recently, this cutting-edge AI search engine secured an impressive $500 million in its fourth funding round, which raised its valuation to an incredible $9 billion. A report from Bloomberg indicated that this latest funding initiative was spearheaded by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and concluded earlier this month. The financial details were revealed by a confidential source.
Founded in 2022, Perplexity distinguishes itself as an AI-enhanced search engine and chatbot that harnesses advanced technologies, including natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. Unlike numerous existing AI chatbots, Perplexity excels in delivering real-time information retrieval capabilities.
This startup operates in a highly competitive landscape, featuring major stakeholders such as OpenAI, which has recently rolled out search functionalities for all ChatGPT users. To further enhance its offerings, Perplexity has acquired Carbon, a data connectivity startup focused on integrating external data sources with large language models.
In their official blog post regarding the acquisition of Carbon, the company conveyed enthusiasm about incorporating Carbon’s data connectors into their technological framework: “We’re excited to announce our acquisition of Carbon—a retrieval engine that connects external data sources with large language models. This integration will soon enable users to link applications such as Notion and Google Docs directly with Perplexity.” The main aim of this acquisition is not only to customise AI experiences but also to seamlessly embed them into users’ everyday activities.
By embedding Carbon’s capabilities into its answer engine, Perplexity aims to enhance its proficiency in accessing and processing varied information streams from multiple platforms, including internal databases and cloud storage solutions. Moreover, this year has seen Perplexity in the spotlight for establishing revenue-sharing agreements with prominent publishers such as Time and Fortune, amidst allegations of plagiarism raised by several media organisations.
Perplexity is setting a new standard in the realm of AI search engines.
