A-Zai

Perplexity AI is an AI‑powered search and answer engine founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski in San Francisco. It combines large language models with real‑time web search, delivering conversational answers backed by cited sources instead of just a list of links. The platform is available on web, mobile apps, browser extensions, and desktop, with a free tier and a Pro subscription that unlocks more advanced models and features. By mid‑2025, it had grown to tens of millions of users, processed hundreds of millions of queries monthly, and reached a multibillion‑dollar valuation backed by investors like Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Databricks. Perplexity positions itself as a challenger to traditional search engines, aiming to make knowledge retrieval faster, clearer, and more accessible.

Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and refining the instructions called **prompts** that you give to an AI model so it produces the most accurate, relevant, or creative output possible. A prompt can be as simple as a short question or as complex as a structured set of instructions with examples, constraints, and context. Effective prompt engineering involves understanding the model’s capabilities, choosing the right format, and providing just enough detail to guide the AI without overwhelming or confusing it. It’s used across tasks like summarization, translation, code generation, creative writing, and data extraction, often making the difference between mediocre and exceptional results. As AI systems become more powerful, prompt engineering is emerging as a core skill for unlocking their full potential in both technical and creative domains.