Sam Altman and his Perplexity AI counterpart Aravind Srinivas had a lighthearted exchange on X after OpenAI announced a new update to the ChatGPT 4o model.
"It is pretty good. It is soon going to get much better, the team is cooking," Mr Altman gave a sneak peek of the upgrade. Mr Srinivas, whose AI search startup Perplexity AI has been gaining traction, responded with, "Sorry, what's the update?"
sorry what's the update?
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) February 15, 2025
Mr Altman replied, "Among many other things, it's the best search product on the web! Check it out and (let me know) what you think."
Mr Srinivas fired back. "Lol, I just mogged you (yesterday), check this out," he joked, referring to Perplexity AI's latest Deep Research tool.
lol, i just mogged you yday, check this out: https://t.co/hjOl8qk8Y4
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) February 15, 2025
Mr Srinivas, who was once a research intern at OpenAI before becoming a research scientist there, eventually left the company to co-found Perplexity AI. Backed by investors like Jeff Bezos, Perplexity AI has been rapidly expanding.
Perplexity's Deep Research tool takes AI search beyond simple queries, conducting multiple searches, analysing hundreds of sources, and compiling detailed reports in under three minutes. The company has positioned itself as a strong competitor to OpenAI and Google, focusing on expert-level analysis in fields like finance, marketing, and health.
Sam Altman kept the banter friendly. He revealed that he and Mr Srinivas had already resolved tensions if there were any. "Since you nicely apologised to me in person for all the mean tweets last week, I'm going to let this go. Keep cooking out there!" he wrote. "Proud of you," he added.
since you nicely apologized to me in person for all the mean tweets last week, im going to let this go :)
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 15, 2025
keep cooking out there! proud of you.
In a separate post, Mr Srinivas shared the popular Spider-Man meme, hinting at the growing rivalry between Perplexity, OpenAI, and Google. He took a direct shot at Google CEO Sundar Pichai, challenging him with a "your turn next."
Your turn next @sundarpichai pic.twitter.com/mfxKKwrkxN
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) February 14, 2025
Perplexity's Deep Research tool, designed to take on Google and OpenAI, helps users save time by conducting in-depth research on complex topics. It can complete searches in under three minutes, analyzing data and compiling clear reports. The tool is free for all users, while paid users get 500 queries per day for $20/month.
Although it falls behind ChatGPT in accuracy rankings, it outperforms models like Gemini Thinking, Grok 2, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Currently available on the Perplexity website, it will soon be launched on iOS, Android, and Mac.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
