India, July 27 -- In the fast-paced world of artificial intelligence, one name has emerged as a serious challenger to ChatGPT, Aravind Srinivas, the Indian-origin co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI. Once a researcher at Google, Srinivas walked away from Big Tech to build something of his own. In just under three years, Perplexity AI has gone from an experimental idea to a multibillion-dollar startup, valued at $18 billion as of July 2025.

At the heart of this extraordinary journey is a deeply personal story, one that began with his mother's dream in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Born in 1994 in Chennai, Srinivas was shaped early by his mother's ambitions. Every time they passed IIT Madras, she'd tell him, "You will study here one day." He did e...