Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says the company is committed to going public in 2028 — and he's not waiting to see how other AI giants fare. Speaking as SpaceX prepares to price its record $75 billion IPO this week, Srinivas framed the rocket company's market debut as a leading indicator for the entire AI sector. Anthropic has confidentially filed at a nearly $1 trillion valuation, while OpenAI is drafting its own listing at $852 billion post-money. Srinivas said that if either of those mega-IPOs stumbles, ripple effects will hit every AI company waiting in the wings.
The IPO Calendar and the Market's Signal
SpaceX's IPO will be the first big test. Srinivas called it a leading indicator for how Anthropic or OpenAI will go public. He also noted that if either Anthropic or OpenAI goes six months without a meaningful advance in model capability, their valuations start to look shaky. That uncertainty doesn't change Perplexity's timeline. “We're committed to going public in 2028 regardless of market conditions for other AI companies,” Srinivas said. The message is clear: Perplexity is running its own race.
Perplexity's Financial Trajectory
The numbers back that confidence. Perplexity's annualized recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed $450 million in March 2026 — a 50% acceleration in just 30 days, driven by the launch of Perplexity Computer. The company is targeting $656 million in ARR by the end of 2026, up from $200 million in late 2025. That kind of growth in a crowded AI search market suggests Perplexity has found a product that sticks with users who are willing to pay.
A Different Capital Strategy
Perplexity isn't burning cash to train the world's most powerful AI models. Srinivas said he'd use an open source model if it gets the job done 90% of the time at 10 to 20 times cheaper than a frontier model. That cost discipline means Perplexity can outlast bigger rivals that depend on ever-larger model improvements to justify their price tags. If model progress stalls, the companies with the biggest training bills will feel the pain first.
For now, all eyes are on SpaceX's IPO this week. Its reception will tell the market — and Perplexity — whether investors have an appetite for high-risk, high-reward tech bets. Srinivas is watching, but he's not changing course. The 2028 target stands, no matter what the rocket company's stock does.
