US AI startup Perplexity is making a play for Japanese users through a strategic partnership with telecom giant SoftBank. This deal comes after Perplexity announced its ambitions to challenge Google in the search engine market.
SoftBank will offer a free one-year trial of Perplexity Pro, the premium version of their AI-powered search engine, to subscribers of its mobile services: SoftBank, Y!mobile, and LINEMO. This trial begins June 19, 2024.
Perplexity’s search engine is designed to be more than just a keyword matcher. It utilizes generative AI to understand the user’s intent and provide comprehensive answers in natural language, complete with references for verification. This approach aims to save users time by directly answering their questions instead of just delivering links.
SoftBank’s backing provides Perplexity with a valuable entry point into the Japanese market. By offering free access to a large user base, Perplexity can gather data to improve its AI model and gain recognition among Japanese users. This could potentially challenge the dominance of established search engines like Google in Japan.
However, Perplexity faces competition not only from Google but also from other AI-powered search engines emerging in the market. The success of Perplexity’s strategy will depend on how well its AI performs compared to competitors and how effectively it tailors its service to the specific needs of Japanese users.
