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

Source: The Verge

Perplexity distances itself from ads

AI search startup Perplexity is pulling back from advertising amid concerns that users may distrust chatbots that appear to have an agenda to upsell. Executives explained at a round‑table event on Monday that the company began phasing out ads late last year and is not pursuing any new ad deals at the moment (as reported by Business Insider and the Financial Times).

Industry crossroads

The move underscores a growing fork in the AI industry. The sector’s biggest players are scrambling for stable revenue streams to fund massive spending:

• OpenAI and other large firms are leaning into advertising as a primary income source.
• Anthropic and similar companies have pledged to keep ads out of their products.

Perplexity’s shift represents a noteworthy U‑turn for the U.S. startup, which had previously incorporated ads into its platform.

Read the full story at The Verge.