Yesterday’s big news was Google’s plan to blow up traditional search in favor of AI-powered experiences. But Google isn’t the only company planning next-generation discoverability. AThis morning, Bloomberg broke the news that Andreessen Horowitz-backed Exa Labs has raised $250 million at a $2.2 billion valuation to go after the same market. And it’s part of a wave of startups going after AI search, which has quietly become one of the most attractive targets in consumer AI.
From Bloomberg:
Exa is part of a wave of startups vying to transform the search industry, including Tavily, TinyFish, and Parallel Web Systems. Parallel, led by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, recently raised $100 million in a round led by venture firm Sequoia Capital at a valuation of $2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
At the same time, we’re seeing traditional technology platforms like Amazon, LinkedIn, and Reddit leverage AI to revamp their search and discoverability capabilities. So if any startup starts thinking about selling, there will be many potential acquirers.
The biggest competitor is ChatGPT, which still owns the interface layer and, prior to Google’s launch, handled the majority of AI-powered searches made on any given day. But since OpenAI can’t prioritize search and Google has an advertising business to protect, that could leave room for smaller labs like Exa and Parallel to carve out a niche for themselves.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly rated Exa Labs.
