Investors bet: AI search will move from niche to $20 billion

Perplexity AI’s valuation soared to $20 billion after completing a $200 million round of financing, well up from $18 billion in July 2025 and $9 billion earlier this year. The startup, founded by former OpenAI and Google engineers, offers an ad-free, subscription-based AI search model and supports real-time citation responses, with annual recurring revenues of nearly $200 million. Despite legal challenges in content procurement, the company is expanding its AI browser Comet and recently offered to acquire Google Chrome for $34.5 billion. The funding will accelerate product development and infrastructure expansion.