As the artificial intelligence landscape continues to evolve, two notable companies are making significant strides. OpenAI is in the process of launching a search-oriented product poised to challenge tech giants like Google and Bing. Meanwhile, Perplexity, a burgeoning force in the AI industry, is enhancing its market presence through strategic partnerships and a focus on global expansion.

The Rise of Perplexity

Founded by Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity has rapidly gained attention with its AI-first approach to knowledge engines. Recent weeks saw the company disclose plans for global expansion, particularly through partnerships with major telecommunications firms. The latest development in its expansion strategy involves a collaboration with SoundHound, a leader in voice AI technology.

This partnership, announced just yesterday, is set to integrate Perplexity’s advanced large language model (LLM)-driven capabilities into SoundHound’s Chat AI voice assistant. This move is expected to enhance user experience significantly by making the voice assistant more adept and responsive than ever before.

Dmitry Shevelenko, the Chief Business Officer at Perplexity, emphasized the impact of this integration: “Through this partnership, we’re one step closer to our goal of making Perplexity available on every device. With voice AI’s rising popularity, this makes accessing needed information easier and more intuitive for users everywhere.”

What This Means for SoundHound and Its Users

SoundHound, established over a decade ago, has been at the forefront of speech recognition and voice AI solutions across various industries. Its Chat AI, akin to Siri, allows users to engage in dialogue and obtain straightforward answers. It pulls real-time data on numerous topics like weather, sports, and restaurants, and synthesizes this with static large language models to deliver comprehensive responses.

The integration of Perplexity’s online LLMs with Chat AI marks a significant enhancement. These models, which inherently surf the web to pull the most current and useful information, will allow Chat AI to address even more complex, time-sensitive questions than before.

For example, a user could ask, “How does this week’s gas price compare to last week?” The enhanced Chat AI would provide an accurate, live update on gas prices and a detailed comparison with the previous week. This query could be followed by a command like, “Navigate to the nearest gas station,” to which SoundHound would seamlessly provide directions using the most relevant data.

The Technical Edge: Perplexity’s LLM Options

Perplexity currently offers two sizes of its online LLMs: pplx-7b-online and pplx-70b-online. While SoundHound has not specified which models it will employ, the capabilities these models bring to the table are significant.

Table: Comparison of Perplexity’s LLM Models

Future of Voice Assistants

With the integration of Perplexity’s search capabilities, SoundHound’s Chat AI is positioned to become a top contender in the realm of generative AI-powered voice assistants, rivalling Google Assistant and Alexa. This technology is already deployed in over 12 countries and supports 18 languages with Stellantis in the automotive sector.

Mike Zagorsek, COO of SoundHound AI, shared his enthusiasm: “By integrating these advanced search capabilities, we are not only enhancing the functional range of our voice assistants but also improving user engagement. As more people opt for voice interactions over typing, we anticipate a significant uptick in usage.”

Industry Impact and Consumer Trends

Both Google and Amazon have announced plans to upgrade their voice assistants with generative AI models, although these enhancements have not yet been rolled out globally. Apple is also expected to introduce an improved AI-driven version of Siri.

Key Takeaways:

• Strategic Partnerships: Perplexity’s collaboration with SoundHound extends its reach and enhances its market presence.
• Enhanced Capabilities: The integration with SoundHound’s voice AI will allow more complex and timely queries to be handled efficiently.
• Broader Impact: This partnership signals a shift towards more dynamic, conversational capabilities in voice AI technology.

As AI technology advances, the implications for everyday technology use are profound. Perplexity’s strategic movements, especially its partnership with SoundHound, not only expand its operational horizons but also redefine how we interact with devices in our interconnected world.