Carbon, a startup specializing in retrieval augmented generation, is now owned by Perplexity
Perplexity has acquired Carbon, a startup specializing in connecting LLMs with external data sources. The deal will allow Perplexity to integrate Carbon's technology into its products, enabling Perplexity to connect to users' apps to deliver a more personalized experience.
Perplexity recently announced its acquisition of Carbon, the developer of an engine that connects LLMs with external data sources. Carbon's product includes data connectors for over 20 enterprise data sources including Notion, Slack, Gmail, Outlook, and OneDrive. Moreover, its engine supports a variety of file formats for text, images, video, and audio. Perplexity intends to integrate Carbon's technology into its products so the former connects directly to applications like Notion and Google Docs.
According to Perplexity, this will enable the company to deliver more personalized experiences: once Perplexity can connect to users' preferred data sources, users will be able to obtain relevant and comprehensive search results, as well as useful insights, from a single query in Perplexity. To boost its operations and accelerate product and feature development, Perplexity will absorb the full Carbon team.
Perplexity's acquisition of Carbon is the latest installment in a year filled in equal parts with new feature releases and reports of new controversies. Some of Perplexity's most notable announcements include a new shopping experience launch, the startup's partnership with prediction market Polymarket, and the introduction of its Enterprise Pro service. Less proud moments for the startup include the multiple unethical scraping allegations it endured throughout the year and the legal issues it has been facing, much like every other major AI company built on questionably sourced data.
