Report: Perplexity Closed $500 Million Funding Round in Early December

Perplexity AI recently closed a $500 million funding round, tripling its valuation to $9 billion. The company's investors include SoftBank, Nvidia, and Jeff Bezos. Despite the significant funding, Perplexity declined to comment on the report. The AI startup has seen rapid growth, with its valuation rising from $520 million at the start of 2024 to $3 billion in the summer. The AI sector has attracted substantial venture capital, with 42% of U.S. venture capital investments in 2024 directed towards AI companies, according to HSBC Innovation Capital.

Perplexity AI has been expanding its offerings, launching an AI-powered shopping assistant in the U.S. and planning further market expansions. The company is also exploring revenue-sharing partnerships with news publishers, despite facing a lawsuit from News Corp-owned publishers over alleged copyright infringement. Perplexity's CEO, Aravind Srinivas, aims to increase the company's query handling from 100 million per week to 100 million per day. The AI boom is expected to significantly impact infrastructure and cybersecurity investments in the coming years, according to BlackRock.

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Perplexity AI closed a $500 million funding round, tripling its valuation to $9 billion, with backers including SoftBank, Nvidia, and Jeff Bezos.
In 2024, 42% of U.S. venture capital was invested in AI companies, with 20 AI companies raising $2 billion or more each.
Perplexity AI launched an AI-powered shopping assistant in the U.S. and plans to expand it to additional markets.
Perplexity AI is facing a lawsuit from News Corp-owned publishers for allegedly using their copyrighted content in its AI search engine.

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Report: Perplexity Closed $500 Million Funding Round in Early December | PYMNTS.com

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