Last year, I came across Perplexity through two channels that got my attention. First, a mate was absolutely raving about it, claiming Perplexity would be “the next Google.” Second, an investment opportunity popped up on a pre-IPO platform I use. When money’s on the line, you pay attention.
My Initial Assessment (And Why I Passed)
I took a deep dive into Perplexity and was genuinely impressed with their model. At the time, GPT-3.5 and maybe GPT-4 were the default AI models everyone was talking about. Claude was winning over developers, and DeepSeek had just launched with such cheap deployment costs that it seriously challenged how the investment community valued these LLMs.
But here’s the thing that made me hesitant: the pace at which these LLMs were being deployed was breakneck. I couldn’t see how anyone could maintain a competitive lead when new models were dropping every few months. Success in this space would require something more than pure LLM performance—it would need to be the platform that becomes ubiquitous.
I couldn’t see how Perplexity, as a brand-new platform without massive brand awareness, could capture the retail space against established giants.
Around the same time, Grok 3 was released in preview and performed so well that I quickly switched my attention to its potential. I passed on the Perplexity investment.
What Changed My Mind
Over the past month, several things happened that made me completely reassess this decision.
First, while I still use Grok 3 quite a bit, it seems to have been degraded somewhat and superseded by SuperGrok. My spider senses tell me they’ve created two tiers of the Grok 3 model. SuperGrok is now a paid service at $30 USD per month, and with our Australian peso’s current state, I haven’t signed up—it’s just too expensive when there are other solid options available.
Which brought me back to Perplexity.
With Grok’s performance seemingly downgraded, I started using Perplexity again for general knowledge searches. Then my wife received an offer for Perplexity Premium from her telco provider. Bonus! I took up that offer and started using Perplexity much more heavily.
The Game-Changing Developments
Then I read rumors that Apple might drop Google in favor of Perplexity. Shortly after, Perplexity popped up again for investment—this time, with the telco integration and Apple rumors in play, I decided Perplexity had some serious go-to-market capability and a real chance to become the dominant LLM platform.
So I decided to invest, even though it was at a 50% premium to my previous opportunity.
Here’s my thinking: a go-to-market strategy of offering free Perplexity via telcos would give them a massive uptick in users and brand recognition. But if Apple added it as their default search? That would absolutely turbocharge their growth and put them seriously in the frame as a potential Google killer.
The Broader Implications for Search and Commerce
I wouldn’t want to be a Google shareholder right now. Don’t get me wrong—they’re doing great work with Gemini, and based on my recent searches, they seem to be doing a solid job integrating Gemini into the search experience. But this current crop of LLMs has the potential to completely disrupt their advertising-driven business model.
Using an LLM—especially Perplexity—for product research is simply a much better experience than trying to navigate Google search results and forums. Perplexity does all the heavy lifting for you in a fraction of the time and points you directly to the right product for your needs.
They don’t currently seem to be monetizing the journey to that product’s purchase page, but this represents a huge short-term opportunity for them.
The Plot Twist
As I write this, it seems Apple is now considering purchasing Perplexity outright. This would take a lot of the upside out of my recent investment, but honestly? I can totally see why Apple would want to capture the value created by putting Perplexity in such a prominent part of the Apple ecosystem.
The Takeaway for Business Leaders
Whether you’re running a startup, leading product development, or making strategic decisions for your organization, the shift happening in search and AI-powered discovery is worth watching closely. The companies that figure out how to integrate these tools effectively—whether as consumers or partners—will have a significant advantage in how their customers discover and interact with information.
The question isn’t whether AI will reshape search and discovery—it’s who will control that transformation.
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