Indian-origin man left Google, became ChatGPT’s nightmare; It all started with a mother’s dream

In the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence, one name has emerged as a serious challenger to ChatGPT, Aravind Srinivas, the Indian-origin co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI. Once a researcher at Google, Srinivas walked away from Big Tech to build something of his own. In just under three years, Perplexity AI has gone from an experimental idea to a multibillion-dollar startup, valued at $18 billion as of July 2025.

At the heart of this extraordinary journey is a deeply personal story, one that began with his mother’s dream in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.