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ChatGPT, Google rival Perplexity ranked ‘most likely to fail’
Perplexity, founded by Aravind Srinivas, has spent the past year positioning itself as an AI-native answer to traditional search engines.
In a twist that stunned Silicon Valley’s AI community, Perplexity, the fast-rising startup billing itself as the next big rival to Google Search, has been ranked the No. 1 “most likely to fail” AI startup at a major San Francisco tech event. According to a report by Business Insider, the verdict came from a live poll conducted at the Cerebral Valley AI Conference, attended by more than 300 founders, researchers, and investors, the very people shaping the next phase of artificial intelligence.
A harsh spotlight on Perplexity’s meteoric rise
Perplexity, founded by Aravind Srinivas, has spent the past year positioning itself as an AI-native answer to traditional search engines, boasting cleaner results, conversational responses, and a more “intelligent” web experience. The company’s rapid ascent, powered by high-profile investors and valuations reportedly soaring between $14 billion and $50 billion, made it one of the hottest names in tech.
But at Cerebral Valley, attendees voiced doubts about whether that pace is sustainable. Many cited overvaluation, aggressive expansion, and what one investor described as “fundraising on hype rather than fundamentals.” The poll ranked Perplexity first among startups “most likely to fail,” followed closely by OpenAI, signalling a growing unease within the AI sector about inflated expectations and fragile business models.
A Perplexity spokesperson responded with humour, reportedly calling the gathering the “Judgmental Valley Conference.” Yet, the mood in the room suggested genuine concern about whether even the most celebrated AI companies can keep up with their own ambitions.
The industry’s moment of reckoning
The outcome reflects a broader anxiety across Silicon Valley, that the current AI boom might be heading toward a dot-com-style correction. Several venture capitalists at the event acknowledged that the sector is “deep in bubble territory,” though some insisted this is a necessary stage of evolution.
“We’re definitely in a bubble,” one investor said, “but the real question is which companies will become generational, and which will vanish.”
For Perplexity, the vote doesn’t necessarily spell doom. Instead, it highlights the fragile balance between innovation and speculation at the centre of the AI race. The startup’s challenge now is to prove that its technology, and not its valuation, will define its legacy.
With AI firms attracting record-breaking funding and global scrutiny, the poll served as a reality check: in an industry moving at breakneck speed, only a handful of players may ultimately stand the test of time. Whether Perplexity will be one of them remains an open, and billion-dollar, question.
