In an exciting new development, Perplexity, an up-and-coming AI-powered search engine, is making waves in the rapidly intensifying competition to build the next generation of AI search tools. The company is eyeing its first foray into hardware with an ambitious plan to develop a voice-based AI gadget that allows users to ask questions and receive answers verbally, directly competing with traditional search engines like Google.
Aravind Srinivas, the founder and CEO of Perplexity, shared details of the concept in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on November 25. He revealed that the device would be simple, priced under $50, and designed to provide reliable voice-to-voice answers to users’ questions. Srinivas further stirred excitement by offering a unique incentive: if the post received over 5,000 likes, the company would move forward with the development of the device. The post quickly garnered the required support, and on November 26, Srinivas confirmed the project with a post saying, “Alright. LFG!” signaling the green light for the AI-powered gadget.
Founded by an IIT Madras graduate, Perplexity has become a major player in the AI search space. It gained significant attention earlier this year after raising tens of millions of dollars from prominent investors, including Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos. The company aims to take on tech giants like Google, which has long dominated the search engine market, with its innovative AI-powered search engine that provides users with more intuitive and direct answers.
However, Perplexity has also faced significant challenges, including ongoing legal threats from heavyweight publishers like The New York Times, Dow Jones, and Condé Nast. These publishers accuse Perplexity of crawling their websites without permission and reproducing portions of their news articles verbatim, raising concerns over copyright infringement.
The move into hardware comes amid a trend among AI startups to develop new ways for users to interact with AI. Several high-profile companies, including the creators of the popular AI image generator Midjourney, are venturing into hardware to gain a competitive edge. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has also confirmed that its CEO, Sam Altman, is collaborating with former Apple design chief Jony Ive on an AI hardware project.
Despite the increasing interest in AI-powered hardware, some ventures have faltered. Notably, Rabbit, a company that launched the R1, a handheld AI-powered device designed to replace smartphones, has struggled with underwhelming sales and slow feature rollouts after an initially promising debut at CES 2024.
As Perplexity looks to push the boundaries of AI search and hardware, the market is watching closely to see if the startup can successfully capitalize on its voice-based gadget and disrupt the AI search space in new ways.
