AI-powered search engine Perplexity has reportedly completed a $500 million funding round, valuing the startup at $9 billion.
The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners and closed in early December, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. In an email to TechCrunch, a Perplexity spokesperson declined to comment.
As competition in AI-powered search intensifies, huge tranches emerge. OpenAI recently launched ChatGPT Search, its answer to Perplexity. And Google is developing features that rival some of the features Perplexity offers, such as AI-generated summaries and answers on search results pages.
This week, The Information reported that Google is planning a more aggressive move, potentially incorporating a chatbot-like “AI mode” directly into Google Search.
Perplexity isn't resting on its laurels, even though it's fighting a class action lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement. The company made its first acquisition on Wednesday with the acquisition of Carbon, a startup specializing in connecting AI systems to external data sources.