Aravind Srinivas, the founder of Perplexity, warns that emerging AI startups will have their ideas quickly copied by large tech corporations.
He emphasized that to succeed, founders must work extremely hard because giants like Google and OpenAI are always ready to copy innovations that have the potential to generate significant revenue.
MAIN CONTENT
AI startups are easily copied by large tech companies' breakthrough features.
Large corporations have financial resources of up to tens of billions of USD to invest and exploit the AI market.
The browser war and AI talent competition are causing intense rivalry among companies, significantly impacting users.
Why are AI startups easily copied by large tech corporations?
Perplexity's founder, Aravind Srinivas, emphasizes that large companies have enormous investment capital of tens of billions of USD and are always looking for opportunities to exploit profits, making them willing to mimic successful features of new startups.
He shared at the meeting at YC AI Startup School: 'If your startup can generate revenue in the hundreds of millions or billions of USD, be prepared because your idea is likely to be copied.' For example, Perplexity pioneered the development of a direct web query chatbot, and later giants like OpenAI and Google integrated similar features into their products.
Tech giants will copy any good idea; you must accept living with this concern to move forward.
Aravind Srinivas – Founder of Perplexity, 2025, Business Insider
Perplexity warns about the third browser war and monopolies.
Perplexity launched in December 2022 with the 'answer engine' function, helping to answer using updated web search data, differing from chatbots that rely solely on static training data. This is a significant advancement in the AI market.
However, three months later, Google launched Bard with direct query support, ChatGPT added similar features in 2023, and Claude also updated with real-time search in 2025. This reflects the common trend of copying in the industry.
To combat this competition, Perplexity launched the Comet browser in July 2025, while warning users about the risk of monopolies if 'tech giants' control the browser war.
The browser war must prioritize consumers. If we lose 'Browser War III,' it will be due to monopolistic strategies from multi-functional companies.
Jesse Dwyer – Communications Director of Perplexity, 2025, Reuters
The impact of AI talent hunting in large corporations.
Meta is strongly emerging with a strategy to hunt AI talent through unprecedented high compensation packages. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is willing to spend up to 100 million USD in signing bonuses to attract top experts, including from OpenAI and Google.
According to a CNBC report in 2025, Meta once approached Perplexity for an acquisition, but the deal failed due to disagreement over valuation, even though this startup had just completed a funding round with a valuation of 14 billion USD. Concurrently, Meta also signed a 14.3 billion USD deal to acquire Scale AI to expand its AI development capabilities.
How do the competitive strategies of AI giants affect the market?
The race for AI talent and technology not only puts immense pressure on startups but also profoundly shapes the market through product copying, building new platforms such as web browsers and chatbots with real-time features.
This requires startup founders to prepare intellectual property protection strategies and focus on developing unique features to maintain their position.
Comparison table of investment resources of large tech corporations in AI
Company Investment in AI (billion USD) Recruitment Strategy Notable AI Products Google ~50 Attracting talent through a research-oriented environment Gemini (Bard), AI search in reality OpenAI Over 30 Combining investment funds and strategic partners ChatGPT, AI browser in development Meta ~14.3 + recruitment costs Offering 100 million USD, direct access to internal AI, Scale AI Perplexity Valuation 14 Independent technology development Real-time web query chatbot, browser Comet
Frequently Asked Questions
Are AI startups easy to have their ideas copied? Very easy, as large companies have strong financial resources to imitate and quickly improve. How can AI startups avoid being outpaced by giants? They need to focus on developing unique technologies, protecting intellectual property, and quickly bringing products to market. Why is Meta spending heavily on AI talent? Meta wants to break through in the AI race, enhancing new product areas to compete with OpenAI and Google. What distinguishes Perplexity from other chatbots? Perplexity pioneered direct web query chatbots, unlike chatbots that only use pre-existing training data. What is the 'Browser War III' that Perplexity refers to? It is a new competition over AI-integrated browsers, which could lead to monopolies and impact users.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/sang-lap-perplexity-canh-bao-cong-nghe-lon/
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