In a wide-ranging interview with Wired, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that he personally utilizes Perplexity AI as his go-to AI chatbot. Asked about his usage of tools like ChatGPT or Bard, Huang indicated his preference for this lesser-known chatbot. Huang uses both Perplexity AI and ChatGPT “almost every day,” according to the answer provided in his interview. We guess AI rivals like Bard / Gemini or Grok currently don't make the grade for a green team stamp of approval.
So, what does Huang use AI chatbots for? The Nvidia CEO explains that he uses the chatbots for research. Currently, Huang seems particularly interested in computer-aided drug discovery. We hope this is more of a scientific and business interest, and isn’t because a loved one has any worrisome health issues.
Perplexity’s appeal may be evident in its self-identification as the “world's first conversational answer engine.” Indeed, our own initial poking and prodding of the app and usage of Perplexity via the website reveals it is quick and easy to query and makes it natural to dig deeper into topics. Perplexity also offers a useful ‘library’ of past query threads, and a ‘discover’ news and current affairs feed to explore.
Above, you can see some Perplexity screenshots, which show the app’s simple UI, its excellent taste in PC tech sites, and insight into why the developers think their app is a superior choice.
Though Nvidia has a finger in many AI pies, we note that as recently as January 2024, it participated in a $73.6 million Series B funding round led by IVP. With this in mind, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that Jensen Huang has looked into Perplexity AI, and some execs are ‘dogfooding’ the product.
The Perplexity AI website and apps are free to use, but more features and abilities are unlockable with the single paid tier – the Pro subscription. Those who enjoy this chatbot might be tempted to pay the $20 monthly or $200 yearly fee for things like unlimited Microsoft Copilot queries, AI model selection (GPT-4, Claude 2.1, or Perplexity), unlimited file uploads, and $5 monthly generative AI credits.
Other interview nuggets
The topic of personal AI chatbot preferences was just a small part of the lengthy interview with Wired’s Lauren Goode. Naturally, there were a lot of AI topics covered in 2024. One of the more interesting nuggets was Huang’s description of a new kind of data center. The Nvidia CEO outlined an “AI factory,” which is claimed to have been in development for several years. It is likened to a power generator and is on the verge of productization at Nvidia.
Another topic that raised our interest was the discussion of Moore’s Law. Huang explained that Nvidia bought Mellanox to sidestep Moore’s Law at the data center scale.
We also heard about Huang's very frequent talks with top TSMC execs like Morris Chang. Hot topics include advanced packaging like CoWoS, capacity planning, and related new technology. However, facing more specific queries about the wait time for AI GPUs and the upcoming Blackwell generation, the Nvidia boss was uncharacteristically – but understandably – evasive.
