Perplexity is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot specializing in research and has positioned itself as an alternative to traditional search engines. Like ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, Perplexity uses a conversational interface and can personalize its answers as it learns your interests and preferences.
Like much of the rest of the AI industry, Perplexity has attracted significant attention from investors, and the company was valued at $14 billion as of its most recent funding round in May 2025. In this deep dive into Perplexity AI, we'll discuss whether the stock is publicly traded or will have an initial public offering (IPO), how to buy it, its profitability, whether you should invest in it, and other common questions.
IPO
Is Perplexity publicly traded?
Perplexity is not currently publicly traded. The company is still very young, founded in August 2022 by Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Aravind Srinivas.
Srinivas previously worked at OpenAI, the company generally considered the leader in generative AI, and is now Perplexity's CEO. So far, Perplexity has had seven funding rounds, including four late-stage rounds, meaning the company is in a stage where it could go public.
It typically takes several years for even the most promising companies to go from founding to publicly traded.
Generative AI
When will Perplexity IPO?
There have been no reports of Perplexity's plans to go public, and CEO Aravind Srinivas has said that an IPO isn't planned for any time before 2028.
Since the company was founded in just 2022, that would still represent a relatively quick path from founded to going public. With the exception of the dot-com era, when new companies were racing to go public to capitalize on insatiable investor demand for internet companies, even the brightest tech IPOs have taken several years to materialize.
Alphabet (GOOG -0.05%)(GOOGL +0.07%), formerly known as Google, took six years to go from its 1998 founding to its 2004 IPO, while Meta Platforms (META +2.26%), then known as Facebook, took eight years to go public from its 2004 founding. More recently, high-profile IPOs like Airbnb and Uber took 10 years or more to go public.
After the wave of dot-com busts, investors tend to be more cautious with IPOs and will want to see a track record of growth and profitability, in addition to evidence that the AI boom is sustainable. It's likely to take at least a few more years for Perplexity to be able to deliver convincing evidence around those expectations, even with its success in raising money so far.
Is it profitable?
Perplexity is just over three years old and starting to earn revenue. In March 2025, Srinivas said that the company had crossed $100 million in annualized revenue, and its Perplexity Pro product jumped 6.3x over the last years. He also called it highly undermonetized. Tech companies are known for investing in growth in early stages to maximize their market share before focusing on profit later, and Perplexity is likely to follow the same path.
Perplexity is trying to disrupt Google in search, so it's chasing a massive addressable market. The company will likely continue investing in improving its product, getting the necessary computing infrastructure to grow the business, and marketing the product to grow its customer base and spread positive word-of-mouth.
Ways to invest in Perplexity (indirectly)
Since Perplexity isn't publicly traded, you can't buy the stock directly. However, there are ways for investors to get exposure. You could invest through a venture capital firm or buy shares by funding employee stock purchases, although those options are typically available only to accredited investors with substantial net worth. An easier way is to invest in ETFs with exposure to investors in Perplexity.
That alone doesn't necessarily make investing in Perplexity a good idea. However, it helps to have the backing of people like Bezos and Lutke, who are well-connected and could form partnerships with their respective companies. It's also a clear sign of Perplexity's desirability.
Ultimately, investing in Perplexity is very risky since the company is still tiny, and there's no guarantee it will be a success. Still, if you have a chance to invest in Perplexity, it's worth investing a small amount since the company has a ton of upside potential.
The bottom line
Perplexity is one of the more exciting AI start-ups operating today. While it might not have the name recognition or user base of ChatGPT or even Google's Gemini, Perplexity is the leader in a unique and valuable niche in AI chat, and the company has tremendous potential if it can convince internet users that it's a better alternative to Google Search.
For prospective investors, Perplexity is unlikely to go public anytime soon since the company is still young and in its development stage, based on its current revenue. However, the start-up is worth watching because of its disruptive potential, possible integrations with Apple and Samsung, and the list of elite investors it has attracted, showing that tech's top minds are betting on Perplexity.
Related investing topics
FAQ
About the Author
