Perplexity Is Going After Google | Interview, CEO Aravind Srinivas
TLDRPerplexity, an AI-powered search engine, is generating buzz in AI circles for its ability to summarize web content and offer a more efficient search experience. The tool, which includes features like co-pilot for refining queries and sourcing from specific datasets, has garnered investment and support from figures like Jeff Bezos. However, it also raises concerns about the future of publishing and journalism, as its efficiency may reduce traffic to traditional websites. Perplexity's CEO, Arvin Sovas, discusses the balance between innovation and the sustainability of content creation, emphasizing the need for new models that can benefit both AI platforms and publishers.
Takeaways
- 🌟 Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine, also known as an 'answer engine', which aims to provide concise summaries of web content in response to user queries.
- 🔍 Perplexity's search function differs from traditional search engines by not only providing answers from its AI model but also by scouring the web for relevant information, then summarizing and citing sources.
- 💡 The AI model used by Perplexity is a combination of technologies like GPT-4 and proprietary language models, designed to enhance the search experience with features like co-pilot and dataset-specific searches.
- 📈 Perplexity's co-pilot feature enhances the search process by asking follow-up questions to refine the user's query before delivering a final answer.
- 🎯 Perplexity's focus on both the search component and the AI component sets it apart from other companies, aiming to perfect the search experience rather than building a general-purpose AI.
- 🤖 The AI model is designed to only say what it has read at the moment relevant to the query, minimizing the risk of hallucinations, although imperfections can still occur.
- 🔄 Perplexity's business model includes a premium version with a monthly subscription fee, and the company is exploring additional revenue streams such as APIs and advertisements.
- 📰 The impact of AI search engines on journalism and content creators is a concern, as the traditional referral traffic from search engines is a significant source of revenue for publishers.
- 🌐 The future of the internet with AI search engines raises questions about copyright, the role of publishers, and the potential shift towards a world where users no longer need to visit websites directly.
- 🚀 Perplexity's vision is to become the 'TikTok of knowledge', aiming to serve users by providing real-time information and personalized insights to make people smarter every day.
Q & A
What is the main function of the AI tool called Perplexity?
-Perplexity is an AI search engine designed to summarize information from the web based on user queries, providing concise answers along with sources.
How does Perplexity's Co-Pilot feature enhance the user experience?
-Co-Pilot improves the search experience by asking follow-up questions to refine the user's query before delivering a final answer, ensuring the results are more tailored to the user's specific needs.
What are the potential concerns regarding AI search engines like Perplexity and their impact on copyright and publishers?
-AI search engines raise questions about the future of the internet, as they summarize content without directly paying the publishers or creators. This could lead to a reduction in traffic and ad revenue for publishers, affecting the sustainability of journalism and content creation.
How does Perplexity differentiate itself from other AI tools like Chat GPT and Gemini?
-Perplexity focuses on enhancing the search experience by providing fast, accurate facts and summaries from the web, rather than being a generic chatbot. It aims to be an 'answer engine' that prioritizes speed and relevance over general conversation capabilities.
What is the business model for Perplexity, and how does it plan to scale?
-Perplexity offers a premium version for a monthly fee and plans to introduce APIs for developers. It aims to target a specific user base that values time and in-depth research, rather than trying to reach the scale of Google.
How does Perplexity handle the issue of AI hallucinations or inaccuracies in its search results?
-Perplexity uses a combination of AI models, including its own and external ones like GPT-4, to summarize web content. It acknowledges the issue of hallucinations and is actively working on improving the AI to reduce inaccuracies by refining its models and indexing methods.
What is Perplexity's stance on compensating publishers for the content it uses to generate answers?
-Perplexity believes in increasing awareness for publishers and driving high-quality traffic to their sources. While it does not directly pay publishers, it aims to build analytics that can help measure the value of brand awareness and potentially develop new monetization models with publishers.
How does Perplexity plan to address the potential decline of journalism due to AI search engines?
-Perplexity is exploring ways to monetize awareness and build new analytics tools that can benefit publishers. It believes in collaboration with publishers to create a win-win situation, where both parties can thrive in the changing landscape of information consumption.
What are the future plans for Perplexity in terms of product development?
-Perplexity aims to become the ultimate knowledge app, offering real-time information, personalized insights, and curated content. It plans to expand its features to include more personalized news digests and alerts, enhancing its role as a daily source of knowledge for users.
How does Perplexity's push notification feature contribute to its vision?
-The push notification feature, or 'Perplus', alerts users to major news stories in real-time, drawing them back to the app for summaries and detailed information. This feature aligns with Perplexity's goal of being a primary source of knowledge for users.
What is the ultimate goal or 'North Star' of Perplexity as stated by its CEO, Arvin Sovas?
-Arvin Sovas envisions Perplexity as the 'TikTok of knowledge', aiming to make learning and acquiring information as engaging and widespread as social media platforms like TikTok, serving a large user base interested in daily knowledge enhancement.
Outlines
🌟 Introduction to Perplexity AI Search Engine
The speaker introduces an AI search engine called Perplexity, which has recently gained popularity in AI circles. Unlike other AI tools, Perplexity is a search engine that uses AI to summarize web content. It features a co-pilot function that asks follow-up questions to refine user queries and provides answers from specific data sets like academic journals, Reddit posts, and YouTube videos. The speaker highlights Perplexity's efficiency and the excitement it has generated, despite their own limited experience with the free version.
🔍 How Perplexity Works and Its Limitations
The CEO of Perplexity, Arvin Sovas, explains that the search engine operates by browsing the web on behalf of the user, summarizing content into concise answers with footnotes. While the AI model aims to provide accurate information, it sometimes hallucinates or makes mistakes due to outdated indexes or imperfect reasoning capabilities. The company focuses on improving both the search component and the AI model to reduce these issues. Sovas also addresses concerns about the AI's trustworthiness in sources and the company's efforts to prioritize reputable domains.
🚀 Positioning Perplexity in the Market
Arvin Sovas discusses Perplexity's unique position in the market as an AI-powered search engine, contrasting it with AI chatbots that can access the internet. He emphasizes the speed and accuracy of Perplexity in providing factual information, aiming to capture a segment of high-value users who prioritize time and research in their daily decision-making. Sovas also mentions the company's strategy to focus on the American user base initially and their belief in not needing to reach Google's scale to be successful.
💡 Business Models and Future Plans for Perplexity
Perplexity offers a premium version for $20 a month, which has garnered a significant number of monthly active users. The company plans to introduce additional business models, such as developer APIs and advertisements, although the latter is still in the exploratory phase. Sovas acknowledges the challenge of creating a new ad model that fits the AI search engine medium and the need to build new analytics tools to measure the impact of awareness generated by Perplexity.
📰 The Impact of Perplexity on Journalism and Publishers
The discussion turns to the potential impact of Perplexity on journalism and publishers. Sovas argues that while the AI tool may reduce outbound traffic, it can increase brand awareness for publications. He suggests that Perplexity could drive a higher quality of traffic to publisher websites and proposes the idea of building new analytics to measure this impact. Sovas also addresses concerns about the economic sustainability of journalism in the face of AI-powered search engines and the need for collaborative solutions.
🌐 The Future of Knowledge and Information with Perplexity
Arvin Sovas shares his vision for Perplexity as the ultimate knowledge app, aiming to make knowledge as engaging as popular entertainment platforms. He talks about expanding beyond search to include real-time information and personalized content catering to users' interests and knowledge levels. The goal is to serve a global audience seeking to become smarter daily, offering a comprehensive and engaging knowledge platform.
🤖 Ethical Concerns and the Role of AI in News Curation
The conversation concludes with a discussion on the ethical implications of AI in news curation and the potential impact on jobs in journalism. Sovas acknowledges the concerns but emphasizes the value of established brands like the New York Times and the importance of building a strong personal brand. He suggests that Perplexity could contribute to making users smarter without undermining the value of original reporting and journalism, proposing a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Perplexity
💡AI search engine
💡Co-pilot
💡Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
💡Hallucination
💡Index freshness
💡Publishers
💡Monetization
💡Content curation
💡Knowledge app
Highlights
Perplexity is an AI search engine that has been gaining significant attention in AI circles.
The tool differs from other AI products like Chachi, PT, and Gemini Advance by focusing on providing summarized search results rather than conversational interfaces.
Perplexity's Co-Pilot feature enhances the search experience by asking follow-up questions to refine the user's query before providing an answer.
The AI engine can search through specific datasets, including academic journals, Reddit posts, and YouTube videos, offering a more tailored search experience.
Perplexity's ability to scrape YouTube and provide direct answers highlights the AI's capability to enhance user convenience.
The rise of AI search engines like Perplexity raises questions about the future of the internet, copyright issues, and the sustainability of traditional publishing models.
Arvin Sovas, the CEO of Perplexity, previously worked for OpenAI and has a vision for his product's impact on the internet ecosystem.
Perplexity operates on a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) model, which combines browsing the web with AI language models to summarize information.
The AI's accuracy is a challenge, as it can sometimes hallucinate or make mistakes due to imperfections in the model.
Perplexity aims to provide the 80/20 rule of information, giving users a concise summary while still driving traffic back to publishers.
The company's business model includes a premium version, APIs for developers, and potential future advertisements.
Perplexity's strategy is to target a specific user base that values their time and seeks efficient, accurate information.
The future of AI search engines depends on their ability to balance providing useful information with the economic sustainability of content creators and publishers.
Perplexity's push notifications and news summarization features represent an expansion beyond traditional search into real-time information delivery.
The ultimate goal for Perplexity is to become the 'TikTok of knowledge,' personalizing and democratizing access to information.
The impact of AI summarization tools on journalism and the need for innovative monetization models is a critical discussion in the tech industry.
Arvin Sovas acknowledges the importance of brand awareness and the potential need for new analytics systems to measure the value of AI-driven traffic.
The potential for publishers to hide their content from AI search engines and the implications for the future of knowledge apps like Perplexity is a growing concern.