As OpenAI prepares to introduce a search-focused product to compete with Google and Bing, Perplexity, an emerging leader with its AI-first knowledge engine, is ramping up its market presence through strategic industry partnerships. Recently, the startup, led by Aravind Srinivas, announced plans for global expansion with major telecom companies and is now collaborating with SoundHound, a pioneering voice AI firm.
This partnership, announced yesterday, integrates Perplexity's large language model (LLM) capabilities into SoundHound’s Chat AI voice assistant, enhancing its functionality significantly. This collaboration aims to improve customer experiences for SoundHound while allowing Perplexity to reach a larger audience.
"With this integration, we’re moving closer to our goal of making Perplexity accessible across all devices. As voice AI continues to gain popularity, we're enabling users to easily access information when they need it," stated Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity's Chief Business Officer.
What to Expect from Perplexity and SoundHound
Founded over a decade ago, SoundHound delivers speech recognition and voice AI solutions across various industries. Its Chat AI functions similarly to Siri, offering users straightforward answers by integrating real-time data in domains such as weather, sports, finance, and dining, alongside established LLMs for comprehensive responses.
By incorporating Perplexity's online LLMs into Chat AI, the platform will utilize web-sourced information to answer real-time queries effectively. This development will enable Chat AI to handle a wider array of time-sensitive questions, enhancing its responsiveness and relevance.
For example, users may ask, “How does the price of gas this week compare to last week?” The assistant would provide accurate, up-to-date gas prices alongside a detailed comparison. Users could then follow up with: “Navigate to the nearest gas station,” allowing SoundHound to deliver precise directions using live data from relevant sources.
While SoundHound has not disclosed which specific LLMs it will deploy, it currently offers two models: pplx-7b-online and pplx-70b-online.
Smarter Voice Assistants on the Horizon
With the integration of Perplexity’s models, SoundHound Chat AI aims to become a formidable generative AI-powered voice assistant, competing with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. This assistant was the first globally to integrate generative AI capabilities and has already been implemented in over 12 countries and 18 languages, including use in Stellantis vehicles.
“By incorporating Perplexity’s search capabilities into SoundHound Chat AI, we’re elevating the performance of voice assistants and expanding the types of queries they can manage smoothly. In vehicles where this technology is already live, we’ve observed significant changes in user behaviors, with engagement increasing tremendously. We are confident this enhancement will further please users as they opt for voice interaction over typing,” said Mike Zagorsek, SoundHound AI COO.
Meanwhile, Google and Amazon are enhancing their voice assistants—Google Assistant and Alexa—with generative AI, although global implementations are yet to be fully realized. Apple is also expected to introduce an upgraded, AI-driven version of Siri. Ultimately, this shift towards LLM-driven technology is likely to enable voice assistants, traditionally limited in their interactions, to engage in more natural, human-like conversations that yield more accurate and helpful responses.
For Perplexity, partnering with SoundHound represents a significant opportunity to broaden the distribution of its LLM-driven search capabilities. Previously, the company has successfully collaborated with industry leaders such as SoftBank, Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom, ElevenLabs, Copy AI, Arc, and Nothing.
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