On Wednesday, Perplexity made a major move to revolutionize AI-powered search with its latest acquisition of Carbon, a Seattle-based startup. This strategic purchase will soon allow users to search through work files and messages in popular platforms like Notion, Google Docs, and Slack, with a launch planned for early 2025.
Carbon specializes in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), a technology that enhances large language models’ ability to access external data before generating answers.
According to Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivasan:
“Carbon will make it easier for Perplexity’s answer engine to be informed by diverse sources of information, whether that data resides in internal databases, cloud storage, or document repositories.”
With Carbon’s expertise, Perplexity plans to launch enterprise search products, making it easier for businesses to sift through vast amounts of unstructured data. Employees will be able to access critical information quickly, improving workflow and decision-making processes.
The move comes as enterprise AI search becomes an increasingly competitive field. Companies like Glean have already made strides in this space, drawing attention from AI giants such as OpenAI and Google.
Perplexity’s acquisition could place it in direct competition with these leaders, positioning the company as a significant player in AI-driven enterprise search solutions.
This is Perplexity’s second acquisition, following its purchase of Spellwise in 2023. With the addition of Carbon’s technology and team, Perplexity aims to enhance its product offerings and strengthen its position in the evolving AI landscape.
As the demand for smarter and more efficient AI tools grows, this acquisition highlights Perplexity’s commitment to improving how we interact with and search through digital data. The combination of generative AI and enterprise-level databases could unlock a new era of productivity for businesses worldwide.
