Everyone knows about Chat GPT, whether that is attributed to its public acclaim or infamy. Giving credit to the former, the benefits of large language models are endless. AI can do it all: generate written content in the blink of an eye, brainstorm new ideas, outline an essay, and even conjure images, all based on a single, simple prompt. However, these system’s multi-purpose functions and ease of access can lend themselves to mayhem. Many schools have already blocked student access to Chat GPT, citing academic misconduct and a lack of original thought as their primary concerns. Studies have also begun to point toward the inaccuracy of Chat GPT, finding it incorrect an astounding 52% of the time when answering computer programming questions and hallucinating fake references for essays. Even though large language models find themselves in hot water, one AI system centers reliability within its framework, ensuring that the information you generate is accurate and comprehensive.

Enter Perplexity, a search engine similar to Chat GPT but distinct in significant ways. Unlike Chat GPT, Perplexity generates answers to your prompts based on real-time sources. Not only are these sources up-to-date, but they are also extracted from trusted news outlets, including reliable blogs, academic papers, and scholarly articles. While Chat GPT is best suited for projects of the creative and coding variety, Perplexity can be used in various research settings and is backed by references you can trust. Perplexity has recently hit 100 million queries a week, a testament to its rising star status.

Perplexity’s lucrative funding rounds are indicative of its success in the AI market so far. In June 2024, the company’s valuation was set at $3 billion. It has miraculously tripled in four months, reaching $9 billion as of November 2024. This valuation is contextualized by four funding rounds Perplexity has hosted within the last year, with the most recent round projected to reach $500 million. While ChatGPT’s valuation—a staggering $157 billion, rivaling that of Goldman Sachs—remains significantly higher, Perplexity AI is on a remarkable path toward impressive growth and new heights. However, Perplexity isn’t out of hot water yet, as the company has faced intense scrutiny over its ethical AI practices.

Perplexity Paradox

As of October 2024, the Wall Street Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones, and the New York Post filed a lawsuit against Perplexity. According to the news outlets, Perplexity’s search engine constituted a copyright infringement as it frequently reproduced entire articles that diverted customer traffic away from their websites. By allowing users to “skip the links” associated with Internet researching, a feat they detail on their website, Perplexity allegedly deprives copyright holders of the money and clicks they rightfully deserve.

Perplexity responded to the lawsuit in a blog post, saying it “reflects an adversarial posture between media and tech that is—while depressingly familiar—fundamentally shortsighted, unnecessary, and self-defeating. We should all be working together to offer people amazing new tools and build genuinely pie-expanding businesses.”

Likewise, Perplexity outlines a revenue-sharing program, otherwise known as the Perplexity Publishers’ Program, that they have implemented with other news outlets like TIME, Fortune, and Der Spiegel. In addition to being featured on Perplexity’s search engine, participating companies will gain revenue-sharing opportunities and access to Perplexity’s APIs and Enterprise Pro tools.

“Perplexity is not going away,” continues the blog post, “We look forward to a time in the future when we can focus all of our energy and attention on offering innovative tools to customers in collaboration with media companies.”

What’s Next?

Perplexity is certainly right in its claim that AI-enhanced search engines aren’t going anywhere. The accessibility and convenience they offer have forever changed how people use the Internet, providing accurate and streamlined answers that traditional search engines struggle to match. However, this begs the question: does our reliance on AI detract from the human effort behind the system? Are the authors whose work we cite receiving the recognition—and compensation—they deserve? And, in the pursuit of efficiency, are we sacrificing our ethical standards? Only time will tell!

The Perplexity Paradox: Can AI Innovate Without Crossing the Line?