Perplexity exploiting user data for ads?

✍️ Trump pushes AI into schools

Friday’s AI Report

• 1. 🔓 Perplexity exploiting user data for ads?
• 2. 💹 Grow on LinkedIn with Taplio
• 3. ✍️ Trump pushes AI into schools
• 4. 🧠 OpenAI launches “lightweight” deep research 
• 5. 💼 Become an AI consultant with Innovating with AI
• 6. ⚙️ Trending AI Tools
• 7. 🏗️ Practical AI Applications
• 8. 📑 Recommended Resources

Read Time: 5 minutes

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Perplexity exploiting user data for ads?

🚨 Our Report 

Following the announcement in February that AI search engine start-up Perplexity would be launching a browser (called Comet, set to launch in May, despite setbacks), Perplexity CEO, Aravind Srinivas, has boldly revealed that the new browser will be tracking and collecting data (e.g. browsing time and websites visited etc…) about users—both inside and outside of the app—so it can sell them premium ads.

🔓 Key Points

  • Srinivas has justified this approach by claiming he wants to “better understand” users, and data from browsing habits, such as purchases, hotel visits, and restaurant preferences, would provide deeper insights.

  • He believes that users shouldn't mind being tracked because Perplexity will be using “all the context to build a better user profile,” so users will start seeing more relevant ads, personalized for them.

  • It’s even partnered with smartphone manufacturer Motorola, where the app and browser will be pre-installed on certain devices, and is also rumored to be in talks with Samsung about a similar deal.

🔐 Relevance 

Tracking and collecting data to show users targeted ads is something Google has done for years—and explains why it’s currently worth $2 trillion—as has Meta, which has installed ad tracking technology (Pixels) onto various websites to collect data from people who aren’t on its social networks, and ‘privacy-first’ Apple, which tracks location data to sell ads on its apps, and is also why OpenAI (and Perplexity) has expressed interest in buying Google’s Chrome browser (if it’s forced by the US Department of Justice to divest Chrome), but it’s a key reason why people distrust tech companies and there are currently no clear privacy rules in place that define what these big tech companies can and can't do when it comes to user data.

Do you mind your data being collected and used to show you relevant ads?

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🚨 Our Report

President Trump has signed an Executive Order (EO) called “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth,” which aims to educate teachers and K-12 level students about AI technologies and tools to improve education outcomes and “ensure the United States remains a global leader in this technological revolution.”

🔓 Key Points

  • Bringing AI education into schools will nurture “the next generation of US AI innovators,” which will lead to “new heights of scientific and economic achievement” and prepare students for the “workforce of the future.”

  • The EO calls for a task force—chaired by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Director—which will be responsible for “promptly” developing online resources for teaching AI literacy to K-12 students.

  • It also instructs the Secretary of Education to prioritize federal spending to give teachers the resources needed to teach their students about AI and help them integrate AI to reduce “time-intensive administrative tasks.”

🔐 Relevance

Overall, the “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth” EO has been positively received by education leaders, with most believing that it’s an essential way to align American classrooms “to meet the demands of accelerating innovation and a rapidly changing workforce” and “to keep up American leadership in the global economy,” although some have expressed concerns about how some of the EO objectives will be achieved, as some stipulations are vague and have no deadlines attached to them.

  • OpenAI has launched a “lightweight” version of its ChatGPT deep research tool—which conducts multi-step research from complex sources and compiles detailed reports—to Plus, Team, and Pro users.

  • It’s powered by o4-mini, and although OpenAI has admitted it’s “not quite as capable” as the “full” deep research tool (”responses will typically be shorter”), it will maintain the “depth and quality.”

  • Once limits for the original deep research tool have been met, queries will then default to the lightweight version, and because it’s less resource-intensive, users have increased usage limits with this version.

🧰 The Tools, Templates & Playbook for Your AI Consultancy

The AI consulting market is about to grow by a factor of 8X – from $6.9B to $54.7B in 2032.

But how does an AI enthusiast become an AI consultant?

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Some of the highlights current students are excited about:

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Prompt Inspiration

After typing this prompt, you will get a campaign outline that allows you to build a growth strategy, with specific metrics and tactics that allow you to measure progress to ensure your new strategy is effective.

Using the 'Growth Pyramid' framework, please write a campaign outline that identifies the core elements of a successful growth strategy for our [product/service] and describes how we will build upon them to drive growth. Include specific tactics and metrics you would use to measure the effectiveness of this approach.

P.S. Use the Prompt Engineer GPT by The AI Report to 10x your prompts.

STARTUPS

Name: Matterport
Value: $1.7B
Funding raised: $402M

Matterport is a 3D / VR start-up that has built the first end-to-end system for creating, modifying, distributing, and navigating immersive 3D and VR versions of real-world spaces on web and mobile devices.

PODCASTS

Replace Yourself With Systems: How AI Helps You Work Less

This week’s episode of The AI Report podcast sees Liam talking to Matthew Cohn—founder of Future Flow—about how AI voice agents are changing the game for lead conversion, sales automation, and real-world AI adoption.

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