Perplexity AI is in discussions to raise funds at an $18 billion valuation, according to a source familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters on Thursday. The Nvidia-backed startup aims to expand and capitalize on the growing demand for its search tools. This new valuation is double the $9 billion reported by Reuters in November.
The source added that the company is considering raising between $500 million and $1 billion in this funding round. The increasing adoption of chatbots and AI agents, which can perform tasks on behalf of users, has sparked heightened investor interest in such startups.
Bloomberg News was the first to report the higher valuation.
Perplexity is one of the key players looking to challenge established search engine giants like Alphabet’s Google. However, the company has faced criticism from media outlets such as News Corp-owned Forbes and Wired, which accuse the startup of plagiarism and content copying.
Perplexity has launched a publisher partnership program to collaborate with news organizations.
In October, OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in a funding round that could value the company at $157 billion, solidifying its position as one of the most valuable private companies globally.
