TLDR

Jeff Bezos has invested in Perplexity, an AI-powered startup valued at $520 million, working to rival Google’s web search dominance. Perplexity’s answer engine is a chatbot-style search engine that uses OpenAI’s GPT technology to provide direct text responses to queries. Bezos, along with other tech executives and venture capitalists, raised $73.6 million in Series B funding for Perplexity. The startup has raised a total of $100 million to date and has attracted 10 million monthly users. While Perplexity aims to challenge Google’s 90% market share, Google executives have also made personal investments in the startup.

Article Summary

Jeff Bezos has backed Perplexity, an AI-powered startup valued at $520 million, that aims to rival Google’s dominance in web search. Perplexity’s main product is an answer engine that responds to queries using OpenAI’s GPT technology. Instead of providing website links as search results, Perplexity directly answers questions using information from online sources.

The startup caught the attention of Bezos, who along with other tech executives and venture capitalists, invested $73.6 million in Perplexity’s latest round of Series B funding. This investment marks the largest sum raised by an internet search startup in recent years. The funding brings the total investment in Perplexity to $100 million.

Perplexity, founded by former OpenAI research scientist Aravind Srinivas, has gained popularity with 10 million monthly users and 53 million visits in November alone. The startup has relied on word-of-mouth and buzz to attract users, spending very little on traditional marketing.

Despite publicly stating its goal to challenge Google’s market share, Perplexity has received personal investments from Google executives such as Susan Wojcicki and Jeff Dean. However, Perplexity still has a long way to go to eclipse Google, which holds roughly 90% of the search engine market share with a market cap of $1.74 trillion.

While Perplexity has not announced plans for an IPO or listing on a stock exchange, its potential to disrupt the search engine industry remains promising. With its AI-powered answer engine, Perplexity aims to change the way people look for information online and provide a viable alternative to Google’s search dominance.