Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas Says On-Device AI Can Disrupt the Data Centre Industry

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas highlighted a future where artificial intelligence (AI) shifts from centralised servers to local devices. During a podcast interview, he mentioned that the biggest threat to traditional data centres is if AI “can be packed locally on a chip that's running on the device” because that eliminates the need to run inference on it from data centres that power central servers. Srinivas also tackled other topics around the shift from chatbots to agents, the value of humans, and the future of the technology.

Perplexity CEO Believes Powerful On-Device Intelligence Will Bring the Next AI Revolution

During a podcast with YouTuber Prakhar Gupta, Srinivas opened up about his views on wide-ranging topics around AI. However, the highlight of the conversation was his views on data centres and locally run AI systems. “The biggest threat to a data centre is if the intelligence can be packed locally on a chip that's running on the device, and then there's no need to run inference on all of it on one centralised data centre,” he said.

The comment was made when he was asked by Gupta about a hardware upgrade that can bring a quantum leap to AI. Explaining his statement, the Perplexity CEO described a potential transition away from the prevailing model where most AI tasks are handled in large, specialised data centres. He suggested that if models were capable of on-device inference, the need for vast, centralised infrastructure could diminish. He said that such a shift would alter the economics of billions of dollars spent on data-centre buildouts worldwide and could lead to a more decentralised AI ecosystem.

Beyond infrastructure, Srinivas also touched on the difference between biological and artificial intelligence, noting that human brains are far more energy-efficient than large data centres when measured per watt. He described human intelligence as driven by intrinsic curiosity, the capacity to question assumptions and investigate the familiar in new ways, something he said existing AI systems do not naturally exhibit.

Srinivas also discussed how AI may influence the future of work and assistance. He suggested that ubiquitous, personalised AI could level the playing field between individuals and large institutions, much as smartphones have done by placing powerful tools in the hands of many people regardless of status. He noted that age is not a barrier to adopting AI tools but that a mindset of curiosity is critical to successful use.