OpenAI Takes A Shot At Google & Tries To Nuke Perplexity
OpenAI is building its product bundle and slowing attempting to take out AI startups.
Hey Everyone!
I hope you had a Happy Halloween!
OpenAI Tries To Nuke Perplexity
Yesterday OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search (You can find our review of it here and
and the Chrome extension here).
I've been using OpenAI Search since July, and it's been pretty amazing. It's on par with Perplexity, offering the same key features to deliver exactly what you need.
What I like about it:
No ads.
Cites its sources.
Integrated into ChatGPT, meaning I no longer have to juggle between multiple tabs or AI platforms.
This feature is a direct hit on Perplexity, especially when the company is raising $500M at potentially an $8 Billion valuation. Google might still have time to catch up with its generative answers, but Perplexity's investors and users need to start asking: "Why should anyone pay $20 a month for Perplexity Pro when ChatGPT Search is already good enough?"
I stress good enough, because of course power users will say, "But what about a particular premium feature?"—and they are right. But power users are just a fraction of the market. What Perplexity needs to focus on are the price-conscious users who are perfectly okay with good enough.
I expect OpenAI to adopt a classic Microsoft strategy: "Build That Bundle." People forget that back in the 90s, Microsoft Excel wasn't the only player in town. There were plenty of competitors: Lotus, Quattro Pro, SuperCalc, and so on. Just like some folks now say OpenAI has no moat, the same was said about Excel back then.
But Microsoft played it smart—they bundled PowerPoint and Word with Excel, so users got three top-tier software products for the price of one. Sure, the bundle might not have all the bells and whistles of a specialized tool, but it had just enough to get the core work done.
If I were an AI startup, I'd be asking myself, "What are we doing now that OpenAI can't replicate 80% of—and add to their $20 bundle?" We have seen this play out with Slack vs. Microsoft teams, where the upstart has great growth and then a dominant player comes in, gives the product away Perplexity might be able to carve out a niche, but it will play second fiddle to OpenAI.
Who will OpenAI Knee Cap Next?
We talked a bit about OpenAI’s next targets here. I believe OpenAI looks at its API as a form of product discovery to determine which use cases are the most fruitful to go after next.
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Monday: Can AI Cure Aging? Exploring the Limits of AI in Medicine with Dr. Derya Unutmaz
Tuesday: Google's Rumored AI Agent To Take On Anthropic & OpenAI
Wednesday: Bonus EP #:51 Deepfakes w/UC Berkeley PHD Sarah Barrington, AI Replacing Sales Jobs, And More
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Jordan
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