Aravind Srinivas, an Indian-American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and angel investor, has emerged as a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. As the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, Srinivas is redefining how people interact with information online through an innovative AI-powered search engine. Born on June 7, 1994, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, his journey from a curious student to a Silicon Valley trailblazer is a testament to his intellect, perseverance, and vision. This detailed biography explores Srinivas’s early life, education, career milestones, and his transformative role at Perplexity AI, optimized for readers seeking an in-depth look at this tech visionary.
Early Life and Roots in Chennai
Aravind Srinivas was born and raised in Chennai, a bustling coastal city in South India known for its rich cultural heritage and growing tech ecosystem. Growing up in a vegetarian household, Srinivas was influenced by traditional Indian values, yet his curiosity leaned toward science and technology from a young age. Chennai, also the hometown of Google CEO Sundar Pichai—who later inspired Srinivas—provided a backdrop of ambition and innovation.
Srinivas’s early fascination with problem-solving and mathematics set the stage for his academic pursuits. Like many Indian students aiming for excellence, he prepared rigorously for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), a highly competitive gateway to India’s prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). His hard work paid off when he secured admission to IIT Madras, a turning point that would shape his future in technology.
Education at IIT Madras: A Foundation in Electrical Engineering and AI
Aravind Srinivas enrolled at IIT Madras in 2012, pursuing a dual degree (B.Tech and M.Tech) in Electrical Engineering. While he initially aimed to switch to Computer Science—a coveted major among IIT students—he fell short by a small margin, an setback that briefly left him disheartened. However, this perceived failure became a blessing in disguise. In a 2024 podcast with Aarthi Ramamurthy and Sriram Krishnan, Srinivas reflected, “I was depressed for a year… but that’s when I discovered online lectures and competitive programming sites.”
During his time at IIT Madras, Srinivas took advantage of the institute’s forward-thinking environment. A Python programming class, taught by a prescient professor, introduced him to a language that wasn’t yet mainstream among his peers but would later become central to machine learning and AI. Under the mentorship of Professors Balaraman Ravindran and Mitesh Khapra, Srinivas explored deep learning and reinforcement learning—fields then in their infancy. His undergraduate years yielded an impressive nine research papers, published in top-tier conferences like ICLR, AAAI, and NeurIPS, showcasing his early aptitude for AI research.
By 2017, Srinivas graduated from IIT Madras with a solid foundation in electrical engineering and a burgeoning passion for AI. His academic achievements caught the attention of global institutions, paving the way for his move to the United States.
PhD at UC Berkeley: Advancing AI Research
In 2017, Aravind Srinivas relocated to California to pursue a PhD in Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the world’s leading hubs for AI innovation. His decision to apply to only two schools—MIT and UC Berkeley—reflected his confidence and focus. While MIT rejected him, Berkeley welcomed him into its vibrant research community.
At Berkeley, Srinivas worked on cutting-edge problems in reinforcement learning, generative models, and representation learning, under the guidance of notable researchers. It was here that he crossed paths with John Schulman, a Berkeley alumnus and co-founder of OpenAI, who later invited Srinivas to intern at the AI powerhouse. Srinivas’s PhD research delved into computer vision and transformer models—technologies that would influence his future ventures. By 2021, he completed his doctorate, armed with a deep understanding of AI and a network of influential connections.
Early Career: From Internships to OpenAI
Srinivas’s transition from academia to industry began with a series of high-profile internships. In 2018, he joined OpenAI as a research intern, working on language and diffusion models during a pivotal time when Elon Musk was still involved with the organization. This experience exposed him to the forefront of AI development, including the foundations of what would become ChatGPT.
Following OpenAI, Srinivas interned at DeepMind in London in 2019, where he tackled reinforcement learning challenges. Despite living in a less-than-ideal flat—“a crappy home, with rats,” as he told WIRED—he immersed himself in his work, sometimes sleeping at DeepMind’s offices. Later that year, he joined Google as a research intern, spending a year exploring AI applications under the umbrella of Google Brain. These stints honed his technical expertise and gave him firsthand insight into the tech giants he would later challenge.
In 2021, Srinivas returned to OpenAI as a full-time Research Scientist, contributing to advancements in language models. However, after a year, he felt the pull of entrepreneurship. Inspired by the likes of Sundar Pichai and driven by a desire to innovate, he left OpenAI in 2022 to co-found Perplexity AI.
Founding Perplexity AI: A New Approach to Search
In August 2022, Aravind Srinivas teamed up with Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, and Johnny Ho to launch Perplexity AI, a San Francisco-based startup aimed at revolutionizing online search. Unlike traditional search engines like Google, which rely heavily on links and ads, Perplexity positions itself as an “answer engine.” Leveraging large language models (LLMs) and real-time web browsing, it delivers concise, conversational responses with transparent citations—prioritizing accuracy and user trust.
Srinivas’s vision for Perplexity was shaped by his frustration with the inefficiencies of conventional search. As he told Axios in 2024, “In a world where everyone gets answers and doesn’t have to click on links, the biggest loser is Google.” The startup’s early focus on translating natural language into database queries (SQL) evolved into a broader mission: creating a conversational AI tool that rivals tech giants.
Perplexity quickly gained traction, attracting a star-studded roster of investors, including Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, Susan Wojcicki, Yann LeCun, and Andrej Karpathy. By early 2025, the company had raised over $500 million, reaching a valuation of $9 billion—an astounding ascent within three years. With over 10 million active users worldwide and more than a million in India alone, Perplexity has become a formidable player in the AI-driven search market.
Leadership and Vision at Perplexity AI
As CEO, Aravind Srinivas brings a blend of technical prowess and strategic foresight to Perplexity. His leadership style, rooted in his scrappy startup ethos, emphasizes rapid innovation and user-centric design. In January 2025, he announced plans to expand operations in India, posting a job opening on LinkedIn for a role to strengthen Perplexity’s presence in his home country. “We want that number [of users] to expand to 10-100X more because the Indian population is so big,” he told Moneycontrol.
Srinivas’s commitment to India extends beyond business. In January 2025, he pledged $1 million and five hours weekly to support a team developing open-source AI models, aiming to position India as a global AI leader—akin to its achievements with ISRO. His meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that month underscored his dedication to advancing AI adoption in India, earning praise for his patriotic vision.
Personal Life and Influence
Despite his Silicon Valley success, Srinivas remains connected to his roots. He has cited Sundar Pichai as an inspiration, not just for his tech achievements but also for personal anecdotes—like Pichai’s casual mention of eating omelets, which prompted Srinivas to rethink his dietary habits. Living in the U.S. on a visa, Srinivas has been vocal about immigration challenges, tweeting in 2024 about his three-year wait for a green card—a stance that garnered support from Elon Musk.
Srinivas’s net worth, estimated at ₹223.8 crore (approximately $27 million USD) as of early 2025, reflects Perplexity’s rapid growth. Beyond his role as CEO, he has invested in AI startups like ElevenLabs and Suno since 2023, amplifying his influence in the tech ecosystem.
The Future: Competing with Giants and Beyond
Aravind Srinivas’s journey is far from over. In early 2025, Perplexity entered talks with ByteDance to potentially manage TikTok’s U.S. operations, signaling his ambition to tackle complex geopolitical challenges. As he told WIRED, his rivalry with Pichai and Google is “awkward” yet motivating—a dynamic that fuels his drive to disrupt the search industry.
With Perplexity AI challenging giants like Google and Microsoft, Srinivas stands at the forefront of the AI revolution. His story—from Chennai to Silicon Valley—embodies resilience, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge, making him a tech visionary to watch in the years ahead.
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