Perplexity, the AI search engine startup, is currently raising at least $250 million more at a valuation of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion

Perplexity, the AI search engine startup, has been garnering significant attention and investment in recent months. The company is currently raising at least $250 million more at a valuation of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, following two previous fundraises in January and March of this year. The January round raised nearly $74 million at a valuation of $540 million, while the March round raised $62.7 million at a valuation of $1 billion.

Perplexity's core product is a generative AI-based search engine that provides results using a chatbot-style interface. The company is building its algorithms incorporating a variety of LLMs, which it believes produces a more accurate and richer response. The company is also developing a more advanced enterprise "pro" product, which offers all the cutting-edge foundation models in the market in one single product, including OpenAI GPT-4, Anthropic Claude Opus, Mistral, and more.

Perplexity's investor list is already long and impressive, including notable VCs such as Sequoia, Bessemer, and Kindred, strategic backers like Nvidia, Databricks, and Bezos Expeditions, and many recognizable individuals such as Jeff Bezos, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, Naval Ravikant, Susan Wojcicki, Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, and Clément Delangue from Hugging Face.

The company's success can be attributed to its unique position in the market, focusing on one specific product - search - rather than attempting to build multipurpose large language models. This approach has allowed Perplexity to differentiate itself from other generative AI services and attract significant investor interest.

In summary, Perplexity's generative AI-based search engine and enterprise "pro" product, combined with its impressive investor list, position the company as a strong contender in the AI search engine market. Its focus on building a more advanced enterprise product and offering a variety of foundation models in one single product sets it apart from other generative AI services.

Perplexity's core product is a generative AI-based search engine that provides results using a chatbot-style interface