AI Upstart Perplexity Hits Whopping $20B Valuation With New $200M Raise: Report

Perplexity's AI bot is best known for generating clear and bulleted information to user queries, and is fast emerging as a competitor to Google Search.

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity has secured commitments worth $200 million in new funding at a $20 billion valuation, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Three-year-old Perplexity's soaring valuation — up from $14 billion in May and just $500 million at the start of last year — highlights the rapid acceleration in AI development, widely seen as tech's next big frontier.

In recent years, adoption has surged among users and businesses alike, as players from OpenAI to Google and Amazon race to roll out new tools.

Perplexity's AI bot is best known for generating clear and bulleted information to user queries, and is fast emerging as a competitor to Google Search. In response, Google has significantly broadened its AI Overview, a summary of search results displayed at the top of the results page.

Interestingly, Perplexity is now making a play in the browser market. It recently launched an AI browser called Comet and has reportedly offered Google $34.5 billion to buy Chrome.

A U.S. court last year ruled that Google illegally crushed its competition in online search, with the plaintiff in the case, the Justice Department, demanding that Google divest Chrome to remedy the situation.

The Information report did not have details of the investors in the latest round. Perplixity's existing backers include Nvidia, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Accel, SoftBank, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

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