At a recent AI conference in San Francisco, a provocative question was posed to over 300 founders and investors: which billion-dollar AI startup would they bet against? The surprising consensus was Perplexity AI, followed by OpenAI. Perplexity AI, led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, aims to challenge Google’s dominance in search technology. Despite attracting significant investor interest and soaring valuations, many insiders remain skeptical. They argue that competing with Google requires not only advanced AI but also extensive data, reliability, and trust—areas where Google excels. A Perplexity spokesperson humorously dismissed the survey’s results, but critics maintain that the technical and financial challenges of surpassing Google are immense. OpenAI’s position as the second most doubted startup was unexpected, given its success in the AI sector. However, concerns over its high valuation and infrastructure costs may have influenced opinions.
Is Perplexity AI destined to fail?
