Perplexity is a next-gen search tool going after Google, with 1M Android app installs and 1M iOS installs within only 8 months of product launch. On this week’s episode of Unsupervised Learning, we sat down with the CEO and Co-Founder of Perplexity AI, Aravind Srinivas. Aravind shared with us the behind-the-scenes stories of how Perplexity AI was born (37:19), how he thinks about Perplexity being viewed as a "wrapper" (24:01), where search will be in 10 years (23:08), and where Perplexity is headed.
(0:00) intro
(0:48) the simplicity of Perplexity
(5:16) how Perplexity allocates resources
(7:09) don’t waste your time building your own models
(11:39) being a “wrapper” for OpenAI
(14:37) the future of Quora and Wikipedia
(19:38) what does it take to compete with Google
(23:08) what does search look like in 10 years
(24:01) showing users that Perplexity is more than a “wrapper”
(27:28) RAG solutions and solving hallucinations
(30:13) guiding users’ questions
(32:44) discover tab
(35:48) attracting new users vs. pleasing “power users”
(37:19) how Perplexity landed on search
(53:01) should AI be regulated?
(54:56) what other company would Aravind work at
(56:56) OpenAI
(58:42) Jacob and Pat debrief
With your co-hosts:
@jacobeffron
- Partner at Redpoint, Former PM Flatiron Health
@patrickachase
- Partner at Redpoint, Former ML Engineer LinkedIn
@ericabrescia
- Former COO Github, Founder Bitnami (acq’d by VMWare)
@jordan_segall
- Partner at Redpoint
Jacob is an AI investor at Redpoint Ventures. He's led Redpoint's investments in companies like Abridge, Physical Intelligence & Legora. Follow Jacob on Twitter (@jacobeffron).
On Unsupervised Learning we probe the sharpest minds in AI in search for the truth about what's real today, what will be real in the future and what it all means for businesses and the world. If you're a builder, researcher or investor navigating the AI world, this podcast will help you deconstruct and understand the most important breakthroughs and see a clearer picture of reality. Subscribe to this show to stay up to date on our latest episodes.
