Perplexity announced the release of Sonar, a new Application Programming Interface (API) service on Tuesday. Sonar empowers businesses and developers by integrating Perplexity’s generative AI search tools into their applications.
The company pointed out the limitations of current generative AI features that only rely on training data for answers. For a more enriched experience and credible search outcomes, Sonar, through its continuous internet connection, leverages reliable and respected sources.
The Sonar API offers two versions to developers: the base version, a faster yet economical choice, and Sonar Pro for more complex inquiries. The company states that the Sonar API allows customization of data sources for its AI search.
With Sonar’s debut, Perplexity expands its service beyond its own platforms. Sonar’s capabilities have been adopted by Zoom to drive an AI assistant, optimizing web-cited real-time responses without any requirement of leaving the primary platform.
Sonar could potentially expand Perplexity’s revenue streams. Prior to the birth of Sonar, Perplexity’s income was generated from subscriptions for unlimited access to its AI search engine and additional features. With Sonar, the company boasts the market’s most affordable AI search API.
Sonar’s Pro version offers detailed answers to more advanced queries. It conducts multiple searches per user prompt, doubling the citation number in comparison to the standard Sonar version.
Perplexity touts Sonar Pro’s impressive abilities, claiming it outperforms similar models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic in a factual AI chatbot response benchmark, SimpleQA.
With expansion into API services, Perplexity aims to boost its annual recurring revenue, currently estimated between $5 million to $10 million. This growth strategy comes on the heels of the startup’s recent successful $73.6 million funding round, giving the company a valuation of approximately $520 million.
Original source: Read the full article on TechCrunch
