Perplexity AI launching $50 million venture fund to back early-stage startups.

Perplexity AI, the developer of a popular artificial intelligence search engine, is close to raising a $50 million venture fund focused on early-stage AI startups, CNBC has learned.

The company will be an anchor investor in the fund, but most of the capital is coming from outside limited partners, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is confidential.

Perplexity has been in the middle of the generative AI boom that began in late 2022 with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. CNBC reported in November that the company was in the final stages of raising $500 million in funding at a $9 billion valuation. Perplexity is viewed as a potential competitor to Google

as more consumers turn to AI to search for information online.

Last month, Perplexity also made a bid to merge with TikTok U.S. as the social media platform faces a potential U.S. shutdown. The company sees a potential investing advantage when it comes to startups because roughly 80,000 developers are plugged into its network, so Perplexity gets visibility into who is using its application programming interface (API) and who is most active in their consumption.

Source: CNBC