Perplexity joins anti-ad camp as AI companies battle over trust and revenue

AI search startup Perplexity is moving away from advertising, having begun phasing out ads late last year and currently exploring no new ad deals. Executives stated that ads risk making users doubt the platform's output, which is counterproductive for a company focused on accuracy. Instead, Perplexity plans to concentrate on generating revenue through subscriptions targeted at business customers and high-powered professionals like finance experts, lawyers, and doctors. This decision places Perplexity on the anti-ad side of an emerging industry split, contrasting with companies like OpenAI, which is testing ads for free ChatGPT users. While one executive did not completely rule out future advertising, they emphasized that serving ads is currently "misaligned with what the users want."

(Source：The Verge)