Aravind Srinivas

Aravind Srinivas
Born (1994-06-07) June 7, 1994 (age 31)
Madras, India
EducationIIT Madras (B.Tech, M.Tech), University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.)
OccupationCEO of Perplexity AI
Known forCo-Founding Perplexity AI
Scientific career
ThesisRepresentation Learning for Perception and Control (2021)
Doctoral advisorPieter Abbeel

Aravind Srinivas (born 7 June 1994) is an Indian-American computer scientist and entrepreneur, best known as the CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence company specializing in conversational search technologies.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Srinivas was born in Madras, India, to a Tamil Hindu family. He earned dual degrees (B.Tech and M.Tech) in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.[3] He later pursued a PhD in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.[4]

Career

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During his academic career, Srinivas held research positions at OpenAI, Google Brain, and DeepMind focusing on machine learning and artificial intelligence.[5][6]

In 2022, he co-founded Perplexity AI alongside Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski. The company developed an AI-powered "answer engine" designed to provide direct, cited responses to user queries, seeking to distinguish itself from traditional search engines.[7][8][9]

Under Srinivas's leadership, Perplexity AI has secured significant funding from investors including Jeff Bezos,[10] Elad Gil, Nat Friedman,[11] and Nvidia.[12][13][14] The company has also announced partnerships aimed at expanding its AI applications into hardware by collaborating with Deutsche Telekom to develop an AI-integrated smartphone.[15][16]

In 2024, Srinivas stated that he had been waiting for a US green card for nearly three years.[17] In the same year, Time magazine named him one of the "TIME100 Most Influential People in AI".[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Who Is Aravind Srinivas, the Founder and CEO Behind $9B Perplexity AI?". Observer. 2025-03-12. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  2. ^ "Who Is Aravind Srinivas, CEO Who Has Challenged Elon Musk Over USAID". NDTV. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  3. ^ "'I was depressed': Silicon Valley-based CEO on not getting admission in Computer Science at IIT Madras - 'I was depressed': Silicon Valley based CEO on not getting admission in Computer Science at IIT Madras BusinessToday". Business Today. 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  4. ^ "Berkeley alum wants to 'make the planet smarter'". Berkeley Engineering. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  5. ^ "Event: The Future of AI with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas |…". Harvard Innovation Labs. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  6. ^ Love, Julia; Anand, Priya (2023-03-28). "AI Search Startup Raises $26 Million to Offer Rival to Google". Bloomberg News.
  7. ^ "Report: Perplexity Business Breakdown & Founding Story | Contrary Research". research.contrary.com. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  8. ^ Jackson, Amber (2024-06-09). "Perplexity AI: A Startup Backed by Billion-Dollar Investors". technologymagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  9. ^ Goode, Lauren. "Perplexity's Founder Was Inspired by Sundar Pichai. Now They're Competing to Reinvent Search". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  10. ^ O'Brien, Matt. "Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI wants to upend search business". Fortune. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  11. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (2024-04-23). "EXCLUSIVE: Perplexity is raising $250M+ at a $2.5-$3B valuation for its AI search platform, sources say". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  12. ^ "Search startup Perplexity AI valued at $520 mln in funding from Bezos, Nvidia". Reuters.
  13. ^ Temkin, Marina (2025-03-16). "Nvidia's AI empire: A look at its top startup investments". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  14. ^ Thompson, Patrick (2024-01-05). "Nvidia and Jeff Bezos back Perplexity AI in $73.6M round". CoinGeek. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  15. ^ "Who Is Aravind Srinivas, the Founder and CEO Behind $9B Perplexity AI?". Observer. 12 March 2025. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  16. ^ Bagalkote, Kaustubh. "Jeff Bezos-Backed Perplexity Raises $500 Million, Tripling Its Valuation To $9 Billion As Competition With Google And OpenAI Heats Up - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)". Benzinga. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  17. ^ "Perplexity AI CEO says "still haven't gotten" a green card amid immigration debate ahead of U.S. Presidential Election 2024". The Hindu. 2024-11-01. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
  18. ^ Perrigo, Billy (2024-09-05). "TIME100 AI 2024: Aravind Srinivas". TIME. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
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