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Perplexity CEO warns founders of growing imitation by tech giants
Aravind Srinivas highlighted how Perplexity’s real-time web crawling feature was quickly replicated by major tech rivals.
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Bhavana P - Thu, 17, Jul 2025
- 16:19 EDT
- 16
Aravind Srinivas / Stanford Graduate School of Business
Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, has issued a stark caution to emerging entrepreneurs, urging them to remain alert in a tech landscape increasingly shaped by rapid imitation from larger companies.
Speaking at Y Combinator’s AI Startup School, Srinivas addressed students and early-stage innovators, highlighting the competitive pressures startups face from well-resourced industry giants, noting that bigger companies will “copy anything that is good.”
Also read: Perplexity CEO shares key lessons for startup founders
“I think you've got to live with that fear, and you have to embrace it. Realize that your mode comes from moving fast and building your own identity around what you're doing because users at the end care," he added.
Citing his experience, Srinivas recounted how Perplexity launched its real-time web crawling answer engine in December 2022—an innovation that marked a significant step forward in AI-powered search. The feature, however, was quickly adopted by major players such as Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude.
On July 9, Perplexity introduced its Comet browser—another leap forward in the company’s efforts to redefine user interaction with the web. Within hours of the launch, reports emerged that OpenAI was developing a competing browser, potentially setting the stage for a new era of rivalry in digital tools. “We introduced real-time search to make our answer engine truly dynamic. Months later, others followed,” he noted.
Srinivas explained that large companies are under pressure to justify their massive investments and infrastructure costs. “They raise tens of billions... and need to keep searching for new ways to make money,” he said. “If your company can make hundreds of millions or even billions in revenue, expect a model company to copy it.”
Instead of being discouraged by the impending competition and concerns about monopolistic behavior, Srinivas emphasized the importance of speed, differentiation, and authenticity in product development.
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