Perplexity's CEO says he's worried about AI companionship apps: 'Your mind is manipulable very easily'

"Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas is uneasy about one of AI's fastest-spreading use cases: companionship. The CEO of the AI search engine said in a fireside chat hosted by The Polsky Center at the University of Chicago that the rise of voice-based and anime-style chatbots could be "dangerous." In the conversation published Friday, Srinivas said that these AI apps are becoming increasingly personalized, able to remember past interactions and respond in natural voice conversations- similar to a human."

"In the conversation published Friday, Srinivas said that these AI apps are becoming increasingly personalized, able to remember past interactions and respond in natural voice conversations- similar to a human. "That's dangerous by itself," he said. "Many people feel real life is more boring than these things and spend hours and hours of time." "You live in a different reality, almost altogether, and your mind is manipulable very easily," he added."

""We can fight that, through trustworthy sources, real-time content," Srinivas said. "We want to build for an optimistic future." Last week, the company agreed to a $400 million deal with Snap to power Snapchat search. "Perplexity's AI-powered answer engine will let Snapchatters ask questions and get clear, conversational answers drawn from verifiable sources, all within Snapchat," Snap said on Wednesday in a press release, adding that they plan to roll out the Perplexity search engine in early 2026."

Perplexity's CEO warns that voice-based and anime-style AI chatbots are becoming increasingly personalized and can remember past interactions and converse in natural voice. Many users find these interactions more engaging than real life and spend hours with them, creating an almost entirely different reality where minds become easily manipulable. Perplexity has no plans to develop companionship chatbots and aims to counter their influence by providing trustworthy sources and real-time content. Perplexity agreed to a $400 million deal with Snap to power Snapchat search with AI-generated, verifiable conversational answers, with rollout planned in early 2026. AI companionship apps are rising and controversial.

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