To enable a society that coexists with AI, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is building out next-generation social infrastructure such as generative AI computing platforms and AI data centers, and developing homegrown large language models (LLMs) specialized for the Japanese language.
While much preparation for the AI era is underway, for many people, AI is an abstract topic that’s difficult to understand. At a press conference held in Tokyo on June 17, 2024, Hiroyuki Terao, Executive Vice President and Head of the Consumer Business Promotion Unit at SoftBank Corp., addressed this issue directly. He said that, as a company that helped bring Internet search, PC broadband and smartphones to Japan’s mainstream, SoftBank is working to bring the benefits of AI to all to all walks of life as soon as possible.
Following these remarks, Terao unveiled a strategic partnership with Perplexity, a generative AI search startup that’s garnering attention around the world. Under the partnership, he explained that customers using SoftBank’s three mobile service brands – ‘SoftBank, ‘Y!mobile’ and ‘LINEMO’ – will be able to use the premium version of the “Perplexity” AI answer engine, “Perplexity Pro,” for one year at no charge. Perplexity Pro regularly costs 2,950 yen per month or 29,500 yen per year for the Android version (the iOS and web browser versions have different prices), and in Japan, the free one-year trial is exclusive to SoftBank’s customers.
What is Perplexity and Perplexity Pro?
Perplexity is a conversational AI answer engine that can be used in web browsers and Android and iOS smartphone apps. When customers pose questions, Perplexity provides highly accurate answers based on the latest web searches while displaying information sources. Perplexity features an easy-to-use interface that lets customers specify search ranges and display lists of source URLs and related images.
The premium version, Perplexity Pro, lets customers freely choose from the latest LLMs so they can benefit from more comprehensive information searches and data processing capabilities. Perplexity Pro also features an image generation function that can create high-quality images in various styles tailored to search content, as well as unlimited file uploads and the ability to save search histories. Perplexity Pro also supports an AI profile feature that personalizes search results as well as support via chat-based tools.
Terao invited Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity’s CEO and Co-Founder, on stage to introduce Perplexity and Perplexity Pro. Aravind explained that Perplexity takes a completely different approach to Internet-based search. Built from scratch, Perplexity was designed to be a conversational answer engine – not a search engine – that gives users accurate answers to their questions. Noting that time is the most valuable resource, Aravind said that Perplexity Pro enables users to get answers immediately from a full range of LLMs so they can focus more on what’s important, such as pursuing learning. Terao also emphasized Perplexity’s ease of use and its interface that displays the information sources for its answers – a key differentiating factor.
In closing, Terao noted that the strategic partnership with Perplexity just marks the beginning of SoftBank’s journey in the AI revolution. “Regardless of age or gender, we would like to take action based on SoftBank’s corporate philosophy of harnessing the Information Revolution to make people happy and expand the use of AI to enrich everyone's lives,” he said.
For more information, see this press release.
(Posted on June 18, 2024)
by SoftBank News Editors
