Perplexity AI plans to proceed with a public listing in 2028 regardless of how investors respond to the anticipated initial public offerings of rival artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Anthropic, according to Chief Executive Officer Aravind Srinivas.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Srinivas said the company’s IPO timeline has already been determined and will not be influenced by the market performance of competing AI firms.
“Agnostic of these two companies, we were planning for something in 2028 so that still remains the case,” Srinivas said, reaffirming Perplexity’s long-term listing strategy.
The comments represent the clearest public indication yet of Perplexity’s intention to pursue an IPO in 2028 after previously signaling that it had no plans to go public before then.
Landmark AI Company Public Listings
The announcement comes as investors and industry observers prepare for what could be a landmark period for artificial intelligence companies entering public markets. Several of the industry’s most prominent players, including OpenAI and Anthropic, are widely expected to consider public listings in the coming years.
Srinivas said upcoming technology IPOs will provide important signals about investor sentiment toward AI companies. He pointed specifically to SpaceX’s expected market debut as a potential benchmark for how public investors may assess future offerings from leading AI firms.
“The SpaceX IPO this week will definitely be a leading indicator to how Anthropic or OpenAI will go out,” he said.
While acknowledging that disappointing public debuts by major AI companies could affect broader market sentiment, Srinivas expressed confidence that leading firms in the sector are well-positioned for successful listings.
“I certainly think there will be ripple effects if they don’t go well,” he said. “I think it’s important for the AI industry that these IPOs go well, and I actually think they will go well, because they’re doing well.”
Addressing the lofty valuations assigned to OpenAI and Anthropic, Srinivas argued that both companies have earned investor confidence through their leadership in advanced AI model development.
“They are on the frontier,” he said, referring to their position at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research and commercialization.
However, he cautioned that sustaining those valuations will depend on continued technological progress.
“If for six months you don’t see a model capability advance from one of these two companies, then it’s a problem for them,” Srinivas said, adding that there is currently no indication that innovation among leading AI developers is slowing.
Perplexity AI, known for its AI-powered search and answer engine, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing startups in the generative AI ecosystem, competing with established technology firms and next-generation AI companies seeking to reshape how users access information online.
