Perplexity AI Expands to India: CEO Aravind Srinivas Seeks Talent for Strategic Growth

Perplexity AI Looks to Expand Operations in India

"I am looking to recruit someone to work together on growing Perplexity in India," says Aravind Srinivas. Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI on Saturday announced plans to recruit talent to expand the company's presence in India. This move comes after Srinivas' recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where they discussed AI adoption and its potential impact on India. "I am looking to recruit someone to work together on growing Perplexity in India. It will be fun and intense. You must be based in India and willing to travel and meet with strategic partners and institutions -- scrappy startup mode," said Srinivas in a post on Linkedin. He invited applications via email requesting a resume and a brief overview of exceptional achievements. Interested candidates can apply here. The company, now valued at $9 billion following a $500 million funding round, is targeting India to further its global expansion. Launched in 2022, the AI-powered search engine offers a conversational alternative to Google search, attracting attention from users worldwide. On December 28, 2024, Srinivas met with PM Modi in New Delhi to discuss AI's potential in India. They explored topics such as AI adoption, its applications in various sectors, ethical development, and the creation of localised AI solutions for India's diverse population. Following the meeting, Srinivas posted on X, "Had the honour to meet Prime Minister @narendramodi ji. We had a great conversation about the potential for AI adoption in India and across the world. Really inspired by Modi Ji's dedication to staying updated on the topic and his remarkable vision for the future." PM Modi responded, "Was great to meet you and discuss AI, its uses and its evolution. Good to see you doing great work with @perplexity_ai. Wish you all the best for your future endeavours." Srinivas, an alumnus of IIT Madras, has previously worked at DeepMind, Google, and OpenAI before co-founding Perplexity AI. The company has attracted investments from prominent figures like Jeff Bezos and organisations such as NVIDIA. Srinivas has yet to get his green card, officially known as a permanent resident card, in the US. A few weeks ago, in a post on X, he said, "I think I should get a green card. What do you think?" To this, xAI founder Elon Musk, who will soon head US President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), responded, "Yes." In October, while expressing frustration over the difficulty of immigrating to the US, Srinivas said, "I have been waiting for my green card for the last three years. I still haven't gotten it." Moreover, he added that it took more than five years for him to seek permission to leave the US and step back in.

Perplexity AI to Expand Operations in India, Plans Hiring Push: Report

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy praises Perplexity's API-driven approach for quick innovation. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered search startup Perplexity AI is reportedly seeking a candidate to help expand its operations in India. The role, announced by co-founder and CEO Aravind Srinivas on LinkedIn, involves working in a startup environment and engaging with strategic partners and institutions across the country. Also Read: Microsoft to Invest USD 3 Billion in India to Boost AI, Cloud, and Skilling: CEO India is a significant market for Perplexity AI, which already boasts over a million users in the region out of its 10 million global active user base. According to the report, Srinivas noted that awareness of generative AI tools like ChatGPT is high in India, making the country a prime destination for scaling operations. Founded in August 2022 by Srinivas and three co-founders - Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski - Perplexity AI launched its answer engine in December 2022. Backed by prominent investors such as Nvidia, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), and Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, the company recently raised USD 500 million, tripling its valuation to USD 9 billion, TelecomTalk earlier reported. "We want that number to expand to like 10-100X more because the Indian population is so big," Srinivas said in an interview with Moneycontrol. Srinivas further noted that awareness of Generative AI among the Indian public is quite strong. "A lot of people are aware of ChatGPT and large language models...They are already using these technologies in creative ways." "So, I think we are going to see a lot more faster movement in the AI revolution in India compared to the previous web and mobile revolution, where we were a little behind the rest of the world," Srinivas reportedly added. Also Read: Snowflake and Anthropic Partner to Bring Claude Models to AI Data Cloud According to the report, AI data cloud firm Snowflake's Chief Executive Officer, Sridhar Ramaswamy, recently remarked that Perplexity's Application Programming Interface (API)-driven approach allowed it to innovate quickly and build a successful product. This is particularly significant because Ramaswamy's own company, Neeva, a competitor to Perplexity AI, tried to build a search engine from the scratch but ultimately found it unsustainable, the report noted. "At Neeva, we spent three years creating a search engine from scratch, where we did the crawl, we did the indexing, we did a lot of heavy work. Perplexity came quite a bit later, and they simply relied on APIs and produced a great product. That really was what drove the positive momentum for the company. All startups have limited shelf lives in terms of how much you can keep going. My team in the last year sort of was tired of the uncertainty of being a startup and the relentless number of fundraising rounds that you must do. Perplexity created a great product, and they've been very quick to innovate. I give Aravind (Aravind Srinivas, founder) -- also an IIT-Madras graduate, a lot of credit. What they have done is truly remarkable," the report quoted Ramaswamy as saying. Also Read: Perplexity Acquires Carbon, Expands Publisher Program with 15 New Media Partners On December 28, 2024, Perplexity AI's CEO Aravind Srinivas met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Responding to a post by Srinivas on X (formerly Twitter), PM Modi said, "Was great to meet you and discuss AI, its uses and its evolution. Good to see you doing great work with @perplexity_ai." In addition to Srinivas, PM Modi recently interacted with Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella and Indian entrepreneur Vishal Sikka. Modi emphasised, "India is committed to taking the lead in AI, with a focus on innovation and creating opportunities for the youth."

Perplexity AI looks to expand in India, seeks new talent for strategic growth

Perplexity AI, led by IIT Madras graduate Aravind Srinivas, is seeking to expand in India. The company recently secured $500 million in funding. The role involves travel and meeting with strategic partners in a fast-paced startup environment. Srinivas, previously at OpenAI, stands at the center of the debate on skilled immigrants' contributions to the US.Aravind Srinivas, cofounder and CEO of Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup, announced on LinkedIn that the company is looking to recruit someone to help expand its presence in India. The role involves travel and meeting with strategic partners in a fast-paced, startup environment. In December, the firm, building a search product to compete with Alphabet Inc.'s Google, closed a $500 million round of funding that tripled the company's valuation to $9 billion. In a recent interview, Srinivas told ET that the opposition over Indian immigrants and H-1B visas that's roiling Donald Trump's team even before he takes office misses the point and isn't borne out by data. The founder stands at the centre of a broader conversation on the contributions of skilled immigrants to the US. Chennai-born Srinivas, who graduated from IIT Madras and later did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley, worked at OpenAI before launching Perplexity AI in 2022.