Anna Tong, a reporter from Reuters, discloses that the search startup Genspark has successfully secured $100 million in a series A funding round, consequently placing the startup’s valuation at $530 million, as confirmed by a source who is well-versed in the subject. This development comes at a time when the competition to harness artificial intelligence for disrupting Google’s dominance in the search engine market is intensifying.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, the company currently boasts an impressive base of over 2 million active users each month. The leading investors in this funding round were a consortium of backers hailing from the United States and Singapore, according to the same source.
It’s noteworthy that this recent funding round follows a previous seed round in June where Genspark had raised $60 million. The company’s CEO, Eric Jing, has a background in spearheading Baidu’s AI-driven ventures, particularly the Xiaodu unit focusing on smartphones and smart speakers.
Genspark is among the cohort of startups striving to challenge the search engine market’s domination by Google, which falls under the umbrella of the tech giant Alphabet. By leveraging AI-generated search results that can provide a single answer alongside appropriate citations, Genspark aims to enhance the user experience compared to Google’s conventional link-based search results.
Interestingly, even Google itself is exploring AI-driven search result mechanisms, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT has recently incorporated internet search functions into its capabilities. Another significant player in the AI search sector, Perplexity, has also secured substantial funding, valuing the company at an impressive $9 billion.
Notably, Genspark has showcased a unique feature through its blog, highlighting its ability to utilize multiple AI models collaboratively to delve into comprehensive online research. Similar product releases have also been observed from OpenAI, Perplexity, and You.com in the recent past.
Anna Tong’s report from San Francisco sheds light on the evolving landscape of the search engine market, influenced by the emergence of advanced AI technologies. The editorial assistance provided by Stephen Coates enhances the clarity and coherence of this piece.
