(Reuters) -Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI has begun fundraising talks in which it is looking to more than double its valuation to $8 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Perplexity has told investors it is looking to raise around $500 million in the new funding round, the Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.
The Nvidia-backed artificial intelligence (AI) company’s estimated annualized revenue based on recent sales is currently about $50 million, the report added.
Perplexity AI declined to comment.
In October the startup said it had received a “cease and desist” notice from the New York Times demanding it to stop using the newspaper’s content for generative AI purposes.
Perplexity has previously faced accusations from media organizations such as Forbes and Wired for plagiarizing their content, but has since launched a revenue-sharing program to address some concerns put forward by publishers.
Perplexity’s search tools enable users to get instant answers to questions with sources and citations. It is powered by a variety of large language models (LLMs) that can sum up and generate information, from OpenAI to Meta’s open-source model Llama.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Uma Rajagopal has been managing the posting of content for multiple platforms since 2021, including Global Banking & Finance Review, Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune. Her role ensures that content is published accurately and efficiently across these diverse publications.