Perplexity AI to launch ads on search platform by fourth quarter

(Reuters) - Nvidia and Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI said on Thursday that it plans to introduce advertising on its artificial intelligence-powered search platform by the fourth quarter.

Last month, the AI startup launched a program for publishers with an initial batch of partners, including TIME, Der Spiegel, and Fortune, in which it plans to share revenue from interactions where a publisher’s content is referenced.

Since ChatGPT first launched in November 2022, major search engines have been trying to integrate AI into web search, and analysts have viewed AI-assisted search as a threat to Google’s dominant position in the industry ever since the AI boom started.

Microsoft has adopted OpenAI technology for its Bing search engine through its early investment, while Google rolled out AI-powered summaries for the wider public at its developer conference in May.

In April, Perplexity AI raised $62.7 million from existing investors such as Nvidia, and new investors including Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, and Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital.

The fundraising round valued the company at more than $1 billion, doubling its valuation from three months earlier.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)