Perplexity, an A.I.-powered search engine, is gaining attention as a potential challenger to Google. Founded by former researchers from OpenAI and Meta, Perplexity has raised $74 million in funding and is valued at $520 million. The search engine uses A.I. to generate summaries of search results instead of providing a list of links. It also offers features like Copilot, which helps users narrow down their queries, and the ability to search within specific sources. Perplexity runs on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 model and its own A.I. model. While Perplexity is useful for complex or open-ended searches, Google still has advantages like location data and a larger user base. A.I.-based search engines like Perplexity raise concerns about the future of digital media and the potential loss of traffic for publishers. However, Perplexity’s CEO believes that it can offer higher quality and more targeted traffic to publishers.
