Perplexity Wants To Help You Find Better Answers On The Internet | Forbes
TLDRIn this Forbes interview, staff writer Kenrick Kai speaks with Arvin Sras, CEO of Perplexity, a startup that has made it to the Forbes AI 50 list. Perplexity, launched in August 2022, is an AI-driven search engine that provides direct answers to questions, supported by citations and references, much like an academic paper or journalistic research. The tool has gained popularity among business leaders for its ability to deliver fact-based, real-time responses without the need for users to sift through multiple links. Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity encourages a conversational interaction, allowing users to ask questions naturally. Arvin discusses the company's growth, its daily query volume in the single-digit millions, and the ambition to change user habits to include AI-based answer engines in their daily routines. He also shares personal anecdotes of using Perplexity in his day-to-day life for quick and accurate information retrieval.
Takeaways
- 🔍 **Perplexity as a Search Tool**: Perplexity is used more as a search engine without the need for clicking through links, providing direct answers with citations.
- 💡 **Origin of Perplexity**: Founded in August 2022, it was inspired by the potential of AI models as business products and the success of companies like GitHub Copilot.
- 🚀 **Professional Background**: Arvin, the CEO, was influenced by Google's founders and wanted to build a product with a unique, research-driven approach.
- 🌐 **Web-Wide Search**: Initially focusing on specific domains, Perplexity evolved to offer a broader search over the entire web.
- 📚 **Academic Approach**: The engine is designed to provide fact-based answers, much like academic papers require peer-reviewed citations.
- ⚖️ **Accuracy and Real-time Information**: Perplexity aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, behaving like a journalist in its research and response methodology.
- 📈 **User Engagement**: The product has seen significant growth in usage, from 2,000 queries at launch to millions per day.
- 🤖 **AI Interaction**: Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity allows for a conversational style of querying, providing a more natural interaction.
- 📈 **Growth and Scaling**: The company's ambition is to change user habits and achieve a benchmark similar to the 'toothbrush test' by Larry Page, aiming for daily use.
- 💼 **Business Model Innovation**: While not explicitly focused on market cap, the goal is to innovate and build new business models around AI answer bots.
- 🔬 **Day-to-Day Usage**: Arvin uses Perplexity daily for various queries, such as historical funding data and personal decisions, valuing its speed and targeted responses.
Q & A
What is Perplexity used for according to the transcript?
-Perplexity is used as a search tool that provides direct answers to questions, supported with citations and references, similar to how a journalist or academic would verify information before presenting it.
How does Perplexity differ from traditional search engines like Google?
-Perplexity differs from traditional search engines by providing a conversational interface where users can ask questions and receive fact-based answers with citations, rather than just a list of links.
Who are some notable users of Perplexity mentioned in the transcript?
-Notable users of Perplexity mentioned in the transcript include Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, and Tobi Lütke, CEO of Shopify.
What was the origin story behind starting Perplexity?
-The origin story of Perplexity began with Arvin's interest in starting a startup since 2019. The turning point was in 2021 when he noticed startups like Copy AI and Jasper generating revenue by building on top of Open AI models. This led to the realization that AI models could be a business in themselves, prompting Arvin to start Perplexity in August 2022.
How does Perplexity ensure the accuracy of its answers?
-Perplexity ensures accuracy by adopting principles from academia, where every piece of information should be backed by peer-reviewed citations. It operates similarly, providing answers that are fact-based and supported by references.
What is the business model that Arvin finds inspiring for Perplexity?
-Arvin is inspired by Google's business model, particularly AdWords, which he considers one of the greatest business models in history with high margins and scalability across different sectors.
What is the current usage of Perplexity in terms of daily queries?
-Perplexity receives single-digit millions of queries per day, which is a significant increase from the initial 2,000 queries on the first day of launch.
How does Perplexity plan to grow its user base and become an integral part of users' daily routines?
-Perplexity aims to pass the 'Larry Page toothbrush test,' which means creating a product that users find essential enough to use at least twice a day. The goal is to become a go-to tool for deeper, more complex questions where users need fact-based answers.
What are some examples of how Kenrick Kai uses Perplexity in his day-to-day life?
-Kenrick Kai uses Perplexity for various purposes, such as looking up statistics on companies, researching funding rounds of companies like Facebook, and finding information for personal decisions like selecting a diamond ring or the right shoes for winter.
What is the ultimate ambition for Perplexity?
-The ultimate ambition for Perplexity is to change user habits and become a daily tool for accessing information, aiming for a benchmark similar to the 'Larry Page toothbrush test,' where users interact with the tool at least twice a day.
How does Perplexity handle the vast amount of information on the web?
-Perplexity does not aim to recreate the entire index of the web like Google. Instead, it focuses on scraping and prioritizing parts of the web that are necessary for day-to-day question answering, using the data from user queries to improve its accuracy and relevance.
What other AI tools does Kenrick Kai use in addition to Perplexity?
-In addition to Perplexity, Kenrick Kai uses other AI tools like Dolly for the Dolly TW feature when creating slides and needing illustrations, and he mentions using AI for co-iterating with a designer on brand design. However, he prefers to write his own memos and messages without the use of AI writing assistance.
Outlines
💡 Introduction to Perplexity and its Founder
The first paragraph introduces Kenrick Kai, a staff writer at Forbes and editor of the AI 50 list, who is interviewing Arvin, the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, a startup that has recently joined the list. Arvin discusses his background, having worked at OpenAI and Google, and shares the origin story of Perplexity, which was founded in August 2022. The company was born out of Arvin's interest in startups and the realization that AI could be integrated natively into a business model. He was inspired by the success of startups like Copy AI and Jasper, which built profitable businesses on top of Open AI models. Perplexity aims to create a product that leverages AI in a way that traditional consumer products do not, focusing on search capabilities across various domains.
🔍 The Concept and Impact of Perplexity
The second paragraph delves into the nature of Perplexity as an AI-based answer engine that provides factual, citation-supported answers to questions, akin to journalistic or academic research standards. It distinguishes itself from traditional search engines like Google by offering a conversational interface for queries. The paragraph also highlights the product's appeal to business leaders and its growth in usage since its launch, with single-digit millions of queries per day. Arvin emphasizes the importance of user engagement and the potential for Perplexity to become an integral part of users' daily routines, comparing its goal to the 'toothbrush test' set forth by Larry Page, co-founder of Google.
🚀 Future Ambitions and Personal Use of Perplexity
The third paragraph outlines Arvin's personal use of Perplexity and the company's future ambitions. Arvin uses Perplexity daily for various queries, such as looking up funding details of companies or historical data, which would otherwise require extensive research. He also shares a personal anecdote about using Perplexity to find a diamond ring. The discussion touches on the potential business models that could emerge from AI answer bots and how Perplexity aims to innovate in this space. Arvin's vision is not solely focused on market capitalization but on changing user habits and achieving a benchmark of being used at least twice a day by its users.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Perplexity
💡AI
💡Search tool
💡Autocomplete
💡Investment
💡null
💡Open AI
💡Productivity
💡Business model
💡User habits
💡Data set
Highlights
Perplexity is a search tool used by Forbes staff writer Kenrick Kai and others for day-to-day tasks.
The tool is favored for its ability to provide natural, conversational responses to queries.
Arvind Shras, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, was inspired by the success of startups like Copy AI and Jasper.
Perplexity was launched in August 2022 with the aim to build AI natively as a business.
The tool differentiates itself by providing fact-based answers with citations and references, similar to academic standards.
Business leaders like NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang and Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke are mentioned as users of Perplexity.
Perplexity aims to change user habits with a new search paradigm that is more conversational and accurate.
The tool is designed to answer deeper questions that traditional search engines might not efficiently address.
Perplexity's success is not predicated on Google's failure but rather on passing the 'toothbrush test' of being used at least twice a day.
The company has grown significantly since its launch, now handling single-digit millions of queries daily.
Perplexity focuses on improving responses to user queries and building a robust data set for better fact-based question answering.
The ultimate ambition for Perplexity is to innovate and build new business models around AI answer bots.
Kenrick Kai uses Perplexity for various purposes, including looking up statistics and historical funding information.
AI tools like Dolly and GitHub Copilot are mentioned for their utility in specific tasks such as creating slides and brand design.
Despite the availability of AI writing assistance, Kenrick prefers to write his own memos and messages.
Perplexity's ability to provide quick and accurate answers to specific queries is highlighted as a significant advantage.
The tool is seen as a potential game-changer in how people interact with information and knowledge access.