On Friday, Perplexity, an artificial intelligence startup, announced an AI-powered Election Information Hub, promising real-time vote counts and candidate summaries.
What Happened: The hub, which will be operational on Election Day, Nov. 5, is designed to provide AI-generated answers to voting queries and summaries of candidates. The live vote count will be based on data from The Associated Press.
Perplexity’s voter information, including polling requirements, locations, and times, is derived from data provided by Democracy Works, the same group that powers similar features for Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google.
“You can ask about topics like voting requirements, how to find your polling place, and poll times, as well as receive detailed, AI-summarized analysis on ballot measures and candidates, including official policy stances and endorsements,” the startup said in a blog post.
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The company’s election-related answers are sourced from “a curated set of the most trustworthy and informative sources,” Perplexity spokesperson Sara Plotnick told The Verge.
She further explained that the selected domains are non-partisan and fact-checked, including Ballotpedia and news organizations.
However, the hub has faced some challenges. For instance, it failed to mention that Robert F. Kennedy, who was listed on the ballot, had dropped out of the race, the report noted.
It also listed a “Future Madam Potus” candidate that led to a summary of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy, with some meme pictures not in her usual summary. Plotnick said the company is investigating these issues.
The errors highlight the difficulties of using generative AI for high-stakes use cases, a reason why other AI companies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Meta AI, and Google Gemini have refrained from doing so.
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Why It Matters: Founded two years ago with backing from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Perplexity is a search-driven chatbot designed to deliver real-time information.
This startup became a unicorn in April earlier this year after a successful funding round. The company’s revenue and usage has also skyrocketed by 700% since the start of the year, answering about 250 million questions in the July alone.
Last month, the company aimed for an $8 billion valuation in its latest funding round.
The San Francisco-based firm, whose valuation has tripled over the last year, reportedly intends to secure around $500 million in its upcoming fourth funding round.
Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, has also actively spoken out against the dominance of Google and Meta in the search and advertising sectors.
Perplexity has previously also expressed criticism towards Google’s ad-centric approach and is focused on transforming the search engine industry.
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