Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI, a startup challenging Alphabet Inc.‘s GOOGL GOOG Google with its AI-driven search engine, has successfully secured a new funding round, which has more than doubled its valuation, making it a unicorn.
What Happened: The startup has raised approximately $63 million in its latest funding round, which now values the company at over $1 billion.
The round was led by investor Daniel Gross, with contributions from billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, and Figma Inc. CEO Dylan Field.
Existing investors, including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, and SoftBank Group Corp., among others, "doubled down" on their support.
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Perplexity AI, founded less than two years ago, has already made a mark in the industry with its AI chatbot that provides users with summarized search results, and citations, and helps refine queries. The company has seen a significant increase in user queries, processing 169 million queries per month now.
It is now focusing on selling AI services to businesses and has launched an enterprise version of its chatbot, priced at $40 a month, with additional features such as enhanced security and data protection.
Perplexity is also expanding its user base in other regions through distribution partnerships with major carriers such as Japan’s SoftBank Corp. SFTBY and Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG DTEGF. The startup is offering some of these customers a free one-year subscription to its service.
Why It Matters: Perplexity AI has been making significant strides in the AI industry, with its innovative approach to search technology setting it apart from other AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini AI.
Perplexity’s ability to attract high-profile investors and users, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who is a fan of the product, demonstrates the industry’s enthusiasm for new generative AI products.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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