Timeline of Perplexity AI

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Year (Month and date) Event type Details
2022 (August) Founding Perplexity AI, Inc. is founded in San Francisco, California, by Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski, engineers with backgrounds in back-end systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.[1][2]
2022 (December 7) Product launch Perplexity launches its main search engine, an AI-powered "answer engine" that synthesizes responses to user queries by searching and summarizing web content, later followed by a Google Chrome extension and iOS and Android apps.[3]
2023 (February) Growth Perplexity reports two million unique visitors to its search engine.[3]
2024 (April) Funding Perplexity has raised $165 million in funding, valuing the company at over $1 billion.[4]
2024 (June) Controversy Forbes publicly criticizes Perplexity for publishing a story largely copied from a proprietary Forbes article without prominent citation. CEO Aravind Srinivas says the feature had "rough edges" but maintains that Perplexity "aggregates" rather than plagiarizes information.[5][6]
2024 (June) Controversy Separate investigations by Wired (magazine) and web developer Robb Knight find that Perplexity does not respect the robots.txt standard and uses undisclosed IP addresses and spoofed user agent strings to scrape sites that block its crawlers. Srinivas denies ignoring robots.txt directly, but suggests third-party crawlers used by Perplexity do.[7][8]
2024 (June) Litigation Dow Jones and the New York Post file a lawsuit against Perplexity alleging copyright infringement and "massive freeriding," including claims that Perplexity attributed hallucinated quotes to articles that did not contain them.[9][10]
2024 (July) Business development Perplexity announces a publishers' program to share advertising revenue with content partners, following earlier plagiarism accusations.[11]
2024 (October 15) Litigation The New York Times sends a cease and desist notice to Perplexity demanding it stop accessing and using Times content, alleging copyright violation through web scraping.[12]
2024 (October) Product launch Perplexity introduces finance-related features, including real-time stock price and company earnings tracking, industry peer comparisons, and basic financial analysis tools, sourcing data from Financial Modeling Prep.[13]
2024 (October 24) Corporate response Perplexity publishes an official blog response asserting that claims in the Dow Jones/New York Post lawsuit are misleading, stating openness to revenue-sharing arrangements with content providers.[14]
2024 (November) Product launch Perplexity launches its Shopping Hub, an online shopping platform offering AI-generated product recommendations with backing from Amazon (company) and Nvidia.[15]
2025 (January) Product launch Perplexity launches the Perplexity Assistant, a multi-modal AI tool that can perform tasks across apps such as hailing a ride or searching for a song, and can use a phone's camera to answer questions about a user's surroundings.[16]
2025 (January 18) Business development A day before an impending U.S. ban on TikTok, Perplexity submits a proposal to merge with TikTok US.[17][18]
2025 (January 31) Litigation Perplexity is sued in the United States for alleged trademark infringement by Perplexity Solved Solutions (PSS), a software firm founded in 2017, which had previously declined an offer from Perplexity AI to purchase the trademark in 2023.[19][20]
2025 (May 12) Funding Perplexity nears a $500 million funding round, elevating its valuation to $14 billion.[21]
2025 (June 5) Growth At Bloomberg's Tech Summit 2025, Srinivas states that Perplexity processed 780 million queries in May 2025, recording over 20% month-over-month growth and around 30 million queries daily.[22]
2025 (June 20) Controversy UK broadcaster the BBC threatens legal action against Perplexity, demanding it stop unauthorized scraping of BBC content, delete retained BBC material used in training, and provide financial compensation.[23]
2025 (July 9) Product launch Perplexity launches Comet (browser), an AI browser based on Chromium (web browser), initially limited to the most expensive subscription tier. Key features include search integration, article summarization, image description, and email composition.[24][25]
2025 (August 4) Controversy Cloudflare publishes research revealing Perplexity uses undeclared "stealth" web crawlers to bypass web application firewalls and does not respect robots.txt files. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says Perplexity acts "more like North Korean hackers" than a reputable AI company; Perplexity denies the claims as a "charlatan publicity stunt."[26][27]
2025 (August 8) Litigation Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun files a lawsuit against Perplexity for "free-riding" use of 120,000 of its articles between February and June 2025.[28]
2025 (August) Litigation Japanese newspapers The Asahi Shimbun and The Nikkei also sue Perplexity for alleged copyright infringement.[29]
2025 (August 12) Business development Perplexity makes an unsolicited bid to purchase Google Chrome from Google for $34.5 billion, stating the sale could remedy antitrust litigation against Google.[30][31]
2025 (September) Product launch Perplexity releases its Search API, providing AI developers with programmatic access to its search infrastructure, including an SDK and an open-source evaluation framework called search_evals.[32]
2025 (September 11) Funding Perplexity finalizes a $20 billion valuation funding round.[33]
2025 (October 3) Product update Comet browser is released for free download to all users, having previously been limited to the most expensive subscription tier.[34]
2025 (October 22) Litigation Reddit sues Perplexity in federal court in New York, alleging that it and three other companies unlawfully scraped Reddit data to train AI systems.[35]
2025 (December 5) Investment/partnership Cristiano Ronaldo takes an undisclosed stake in Perplexity AI and enters a global brand partnership with the company.[36]
2026 (Early) Funding Perplexity AI reaches a valuation of $21.21 billion following its Series E-6 funding round.[37]
2026 (January) Business development Perplexity enters a three-year, $750 million commitment with Microsoft Azure to secure GPU capacity.Template:Fix/category[citation needed]
2026 (February 18) Business strategy Perplexity transitions to a subscription-first model, discontinuing its AI-integrated advertising strategy; leadership states the move is intended to preserve user trust in the "answer engine" by prioritizing objective results over ad revenue.[38]
2026 (March 24) Statement In a March 2026 All-In (podcast) episode, Srinivas describes incoming AI-related layoffs as a "glorious future" to look forward to, arguing they free people from jobs they dislike and open opportunities for entrepreneurship.[39]
  1. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (2022-12-09). "Perplexity launches AI-powered answer engine". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  2. ↑ "Perplexity AI". Golden (archived). Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wiggers, Kyle (2023-04-05). "AI-powered search engine Perplexity AI lands $26M, launches iOS app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  4. ↑ Ghaffary, Shirin (2024-04-23). "AI Search Startup Perplexity Valued at $1 Billion in Funding Round". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  5. ↑ O'Brien, Matt (2024-06-14). "AI startup Perplexity wants to upend search business. News outlet Forbes says it's ripping them off". AP News. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  6. ↑ Lane, Randall (2024-06-11). "Why Perplexity's Cynical Theft Represents Everything That Could Go Wrong With AI". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  7. ↑ Mehrotra, Dhruv; Marchman, Tim (2024-06-19). "Perplexity Is a Bullshit Machine". Wired. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  8. ↑ Sullivan, Mark (2024-06-21). "Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas responds to plagiarism and infringement accusations". Fast Company. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  9. ↑ Bruell, Alexandra (2024-10-21). "Wall Street Journal, New York Post Sue AI Startup Perplexity, Alleging 'Massive Freeriding'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  10. ↑ Moon, Mariella (2024-10-22). "Wall Street Journal and New York Post are suing Perplexity AI for copyright infringement". Engadget.
  11. ↑ Robison, Kylie (2024-07-30). "Perplexity is cutting checks to publishers following plagiarism accusations". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  12. ↑ Davis, Wes (2024-10-15). "The New York Times warns AI search engine Perplexity to stop using its content". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  13. ↑ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (2024-10-21). "Perplexity AI's new tool makes researching the stock market 'delightful'. Here's how". ZDNET. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  14. ↑ Spangler, Todd (2024-10-25). "AI Startup Perplexity Fires Back After News Corp's Dow Jones Sues". Variety. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  15. ↑ "AI startup Perplexity adds shopping features as search competition tightens". Reuters. 2024-11-18. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  16. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (2025-01-23). "Perplexity launches an assistant for Android". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
  17. ↑ Ha, Anthony (2025-01-18). "Perplexity AI submits bid to merge with TikTok". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  18. ↑ "Perplexity AI bids to merge with TikTok US amid looming ban, source says". USA Today. 2025-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  19. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (2025-01-31). "AI startup Perplexity sued for alleged trademark infringement". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  20. ↑ Brittain, Blake (2025-01-31). "Perplexity AI sued by software company for trademark infringement". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  21. ↑ Ghaffary, Shirin (2025-05-12). "AI Startup Perplexity Nears Funding at $14 Billion Value". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  22. ↑ Malik, Aisha (2025-06-05). "Perplexity received 780 million queries last month, CEO says". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  23. ↑ Thomas, Daniel; Criddle, Cristina (2025-06-20). "BBC threatens legal action against AI start-up Perplexity over content scraping". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
  24. ↑ Zeff, Maxwell (2025-07-09). "Perplexity launches Comet, an AI-powered web browser". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  25. ↑ Schräer, Frank (2025-07-10). "Perplexity's own browser "Comet" with integrated AI agents now available". heise online. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  26. ↑ Tatoris, Reid (2025-08-04). "AI site Perplexity uses "stealth tactics" to flout no-crawl edicts, Cloudflare says". The Cloudflare Blog. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  27. ↑ Kan, Michael (2025-08-05). "Cloudflare: Perplexity AI Acts Like North Korean Hackers, Ignores Scraping Blocks". PCMag. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  28. ↑ "Major Japan newspaper sues 'free-riding' AI firm Perplexity". The Japan Times. 2025-08-08. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  29. ↑ "Asahi, Nikkei sue Perplexity AI over copyright infringement". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  30. ↑ Roth, Emma (2025-08-12). "Perplexity offers to buy Google Chrome for $34.5 billion". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  31. ↑ Blunt, Katherine (2025-08-12). "Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-28.
  32. ↑ Hawley, Michelle. "Perplexity Launches Search API for AI Developers". VKTR.com. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  33. ↑ Meenaktshi, Harshita (2025-09-11). "Perplexity finalizes $20 billion valuation round, the Information reports". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  34. ↑ Peterson, Jake (2025-10-03). "Perplexity's AI Browser Is Now Available for Free for Everyone". Lifehacker. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  35. ↑ "Reddit sues Perplexity for scraping data to train AI system". Reuters. 2025-10-22. Retrieved 2025-10-22.
  36. ↑ "Cristiano Ronaldo Invests in Perplexity AI, Enters Partnership". Bloomberg. 2025-12-05.
  37. ↑ "Perplexity abandons AI advertising strategy over trust worries". MacRumors. 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  38. ↑ "Perplexity abandons AI advertising strategy over trust worries". MacRumors. 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  39. ↑ Rogelberg, Sasha. "Perplexity CEO says AI layoffs aren't so bad because people hate their jobs anyways". Fortune. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
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