Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, said that the AI-powered search engine now makes 100 million queries every week. Extrapolated over a month, this represents around 400 million requests — from 250 million requests in July.

Rapid rise in bewilderment comes as company mocks ecommerce featuresincluding the ability for subscribers to its Perplexity Pro service to make one-click purchases. Perplexity is also reportedly planning a new advertising model. According to According to the Financial Times, the company is in talks with brands including Nike and Marriott for sponsored queries.

One of the thorns in Perplexity’s side is its legal struggles with publishers. News Corp’s Dow Jones and NY Post have continued Perplexity at what they describe as a “content kleptocracy”. Many other news sites have expressed concerns that Perplexity faithfully reproduces their content – ​​just last week, The New York Times sent the startup a ceasefire.

The perplexity is said be in talks to raise around $500 million at a valuation of $8 billion.