From Chennai to Silicon Valley: Meet Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas, India’s youngest billionaire

On the bustling streets of Chennai, a young boy fascinated by problem-solving grew up far from the world of billion-rupee valuations.

Aravind Srinivas grew up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in a family more familiar with finance than technology. Choosing engineering was, in his own words, a new step for his family. It was this willingness to take a different path that shaped his journey into one of the world’s most closely watched AI entrepreneurs.

At a young age, Srinivas developed an interest in problem-solving and mathematics. This passion led him to pursue engineering at IIT Madras, one of India’s most prestigious institutes. He completed a dual degree in electrical engineering before moving to the United States to further his studies.

After IIT Madras, Srinivas attended the University of California, Berkeley, for advanced research in computer science. At Berkeley, he immersed himself in artificial intelligence and machine learning, sharpening the skills that would later power his entrepreneurial venture.

He also held research roles at Google Brain, DeepMind, and OpenAI, three of the world’s leading labs in AI research.

These stints gave him first-hand exposure to building large language models and exploring the boundaries of what machine learning could achieve. By the time he co-founded Perplexity AI, Srinivas already had experience working alongside some of the brightest minds in AI.

In 2022, Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI along with Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski. The company’s vision was ambitious: to reimagine internet search itself.

Unlike Google’s traditional model of providing lists of links, Perplexity positioned itself as an “answer engine.” It delivers direct, conversational, and citation-backed responses to user queries in real time. By combining large language models with live web data, it offered something Google was struggling to build quickly: trust in AI-generated answers.

The product’s simplicity and accuracy helped it quickly attract millions of users. By 2025, Perplexity had grown into a powerful contender in the AI search race, boasting tens of millions of active users and strong enterprise adoption.

Perplexity’s growth also attracted some of the world’s biggest investors. Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and other Silicon Valley heavyweights poured money into the startup, pushing its valuation past $3 billion within three years.

What set Perplexity apart was its clear focus. While Google was cautious about releasing AI-powered search due to fears of misinformation, Perplexity leaned into transparency by citing its sources and emphasizing fact-checking. This gave it an edge among users wary of AI hallucinations.

In fact, many dubbed it the “startup that could challenge Google” — a striking narrative considering Google itself is led by Sundar Pichai, another Chennai-born tech leader. As Wired noted, Srinivas, once inspired by Pichai, is now competing with him head-on to redefine global search.

In October 2025, Srinivas debuted on the M3M Hurun India Rich List with an estimated net worth of ₹211 billion — roughly $2.5 billion.

At just 31 years old, he became India’s youngest billionaire. His inclusion on the list represents more than a personal milestone: it highlights a shift in India’s wealth creation away from inherited businesses and toward new-age industries like artificial intelligence and deep technology.

Earlier, some outlets had estimated his worth far lower, in the range of over ₹2 billion ($27 million) based on earlier valuations. The dramatic jump shows just how quickly startup valuations — and founder fortunes — can skyrocket in the AI era.

For India, his rise is more than personal triumph. It represents a new chapter where young founders are creating, not just managing, global tech giants. And for Srinivas, the story has only begun — from Chennai classrooms to competing head-on with Sundar Pichai’s Google, he now stands at the frontier of redefining how the world searches for knowledge.