Perplexity CEO Accuses Google of Sabotaging Samsung Partnership Deal
Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas unleashed his harshest criticism yet against Google, accusing the tech giant of deliberately blocking his company's smartphone partnerships and calling Google's AI assistant a "terrible product."
Speaking at Bloomberg's Tech Summit in San Francisco on June 5, Srinivas claimed Google has actively interfered with Perplexity's efforts to partner with phone manufacturers. "Google has given us a very hard time," he said, without detailing specific actions. "They definitely don't want us to succeed."
The accusations come as Perplexity nears a major deal with Samsung Electronics to integrate its AI technology into Galaxy devices, potentially making it the default assistant on the Galaxy S26 series launching in early 2026.
The Samsung partnership would involve preloading Perplexity's app on new devices, integrating search features into Samsung's browser, and potentially weaving the technology into Samsung's Bixby assistant. Samsung would also invest in Perplexity as part of the arrangement.
This represents a direct challenge to Google's mobile dominance, especially given Samsung's position as the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. The deal complicates Samsung's extensive existing partnership with Google, which provides the default search engine and many AI features on Galaxy devices.
Srinivas revealed Perplexity processed 780 million search queries in May alone, growing over 20% month-over-month. "Give it a year, we'll be doing, like, a billion queries a week if we can sustain this growth rate," he predicted.
The scale of growth is remarkable: Perplexity handled just 3,000 queries on its first day in 2022, compared to 30 million queries daily now.
Srinivas didn't hold back, calling Google's AI assistant a "terrible product" and claiming Google "essentially introduces the same artificial intelligence feature year after year, without actually shipping it to users". He appeared to reference Google's Project Astra, showcased at two consecutive I/O conferences but never released.
Perplexity is also developing an AI-powered browser called Comet, currently in beta testing. Srinivas described it as a "cognitive operating system" that could accelerate user engagement through "infinite retention" - turning every search, new tab, and webpage visit into additional queries.
The browser features advanced capabilities like autonomous tab management and the ability to execute tasks across platforms like Gmail and social media when granted permission.
Despite being dwarfed by competitors - ChatGPT saw 4.5 billion web visits in April compared to Perplexity's 125.4 million - the startup is positioning itself as a research-focused alternative with transparency and citation capabilities.
Perplexity is currently raising $500 million at a $14 billion valuation, led by venture capital firm Accel. The company has already secured partnerships with Motorola and is reportedly in discussions with Apple about becoming a Safari search option.
The conflict highlights intensifying competition in AI search, with Perplexity aiming to challenge Google's decades-long dominance. Srinivas boldly claimed Perplexity could eventually be worth "trillions" by becoming "the accuracy layer of AI".
The accusations come as Google faces antitrust scrutiny globally. Perplexity's Chief Business Officer previously testified that without antitrust pressure, the company couldn't have gotten its app installed on Motorola devices, which was a Google search partner.
As mobile AI evolves rapidly, the Samsung negotiations could set crucial precedents for whether Google's traditional dominance can be successfully challenged by AI-native startups.
