Aravind Srinivas arrived in Silicon Valley with a researcher’s curiosity and a founder’s impatience and in under three years he helped turn Perplexity into one of the fastest-rising startups in generative-AI search. As co-founder and CEO, Srinivas has pushed a simple, provocative thesis: people want direct, sourced answers instead of ten blue links, and an “answer engine” can compete with legacy search by marrying large models to up-to-date web evidence.
From Chennai to Silicon Valley: A Scholar’s Journey
Aravind Srinivas was born on June 7, 1994, in Chennai. He earned a B.Tech and M.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras, then pursued a Ph.D. in Computer Science at UC Berkeley under Pieter Abbeel, focusing on representation learning for perception and control.
Building Credibility in AI Research
Aravind Srinivas gained experience through roles at organizations including OpenAI and Google (DeepMind), which shaped his research-driven, product-oriented approach.
Perplexity’s Meteoric Rise
Co-founded in August 2022 by Aravind Srinivas alongside Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski, Perplexity launched its search engine in December 2022 a platform that delivers conversational search answers with citations.
The company’s valuation grew swiftly:
Perplexity’s valuation has climbed at an extraordinary pace. In April 2024, the company crossed the $1 billion mark, according to Wikipedia. By mid-2024, reports from Technology Magazine and AI Magazine placed its value at around $3 billion. The momentum accelerated in December 2024 when a $500 million funding round, covered by Yahoo Finance and Observer, boosted the valuation to $9 billion. By mid-2025, outlets such as Verdict, Tech Funding News, and Open Data Science reported that Perplexity was in talks to raise another $500 million, potentially lifting its worth to $14 billion. Some sources, including The Times of India and Wikipedia, have gone further, suggesting the figure may have reached $18 billion by July 2025.
Reinventing the Browser Experience
Perplexity introduced Comet, an AI-powered web browser with a sidebar assistant that understands screen context, answers questions, completes workflows, and attempts task automation across web pages.
Comet represents a shift toward AI-native, “agentic” applications capable of acting autonomously rather than merely responding to prompts.
The browser is currently in invite-only beta and available to subscribers to Perplexity’s premium tier priced around $200/month. Early reviews have praised its productivity boost and seamless Chrome-like experience, though concerns about cost and market penetration remain.
Navigating Controversy and Challenges
Perplexity faces legal scrutiny over its content usage several publishers, including the BBC and The New York Times, have raised concerns over unauthorized summarization and attribution.
Additionally, a dispute with Cloudflare surfaced when Perplexity’s AI crawlers allegedly accessed sites that explicitly disallowed scraping Cloudflare raised ethical and transparency concerns.
A Founder’s Vision and Voice
Srinivas emphasizes speed, urgency, and engineering excellence. In a recent Reddit AMA, he said, “I don’t do anything other than working,” reflecting his relentless focus. He has also made headlines by suggesting that Comet could automate tasks typically handled by recruiters and administrative assistants via a single prompt, igniting discussions over AI’s impact on white-collar jobs.
The Road Ahead: Tactical and Existential Challenges
Perplexity must translate user growth into a sustainable revenue model and maintain strong relationships with publishers amid legal and ethical pressures. The success of Comet hinges on delivering trustworthy automation while respecting privacy and source attribution.
A New Wave of Tech Leadership
Aravind Srinivas embodies a new breed of tech founders rooted in research, bold in vision, and unafraid to challenge industry giants. If Perplexity sustains its momentum, it could redefine how people discover and interact with information online.
