November 16, 2025
Unicorn or just a wrapper?
Is Perplexity the first AI unicorn to fail?
Users call it a naggy copycat as Big Tech squeezes
TLDR: Perplexity, a $20B AI search startup, is accused of being a thin ‘wrapper’ as OpenAI and Google roll out competing features. Comments slam pop-up nagging and a shaky India freebie, while a few give credit for early innovation—making this a cautionary tale about hype versus habit.
A spicy poll at a San Francisco AI event crowned Perplexity the startup most likely to flop, and the comments lit up like a fireworks show. The loudest chorus? “It’s just a wrapper”—a thin app sitting on top of someone else’s AI—now that OpenAI’s ChatGPT has full web search and its Atlas browser, and Google can shove AI into Chrome overnight. One user said they bailed after constant “try our browser” pop-ups; the meme du jour became a “Try Perplexity’s browser” drinking game.
Fans of the big models—those giant AI engines—argued the middlemen don’t stand a chance. The distribution drama was front and center: OpenAI and Google already own the habits, so Perplexity feels like a guest at their party. Meanwhile, Perplexity’s flashy India deal with Airtel (free Pro to millions) got tagged as vanity metrics, with jokes about ₹17,000 being the “annual gym membership you never use.”
But it wasn’t all doom. Some gave Perplexity credit for showing what AI search could be early on, calling its run “incredible tbh.” Then the meta-chaos: one commenter blasted the article as AI-written and “disrespectful,” sparking a side brawl over credibility. The vibe? Hype meets habit, and habit usually wins. Read the story for the receipts.
Key Points
- •The article reports a San Francisco conference poll where Perplexity AI was the top AI unicorn attendees would bet against, with OpenAI second.
- •Perplexity is described as founded in 2022, valued at $20B by Sept 2025, processing ~780M monthly queries and serving 30M active users, after raising nearly $1.5B.
- •The article claims Perplexity’s early AI web search edge has faded as ChatGPT added web search (Feb 2025) and OpenAI launched the ChatGPT Atlas browser, competing with Perplexity’s Comet.
- •It asserts Perplexity lacks distribution compared to OpenAI and Google; it further claims Perplexity unsuccessfully tried to buy Google Chrome for $34.5B.
- •Perplexity’s July 2025 partnership with Bharti Airtel offers one year of free Perplexity Pro (₹17,000/year) to 360M customers via the Airtel Thanks app; the article questions likely paid conversion in India.