Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine that competes with Google and ChatGPT, has partnered with identification verification firm SheerID to supply as much as two years of free premium service to greater than 264 million college students worldwide, the businesses introduced Monday.
The deal tackles a key problem for AI corporations: offering instructional entry to costly instruments whereas stopping low cost fraud. Perplexity is betting closely on the schooling market as competitors for customers intensifies throughout the trade.
Beneath the settlement, verified college students can entry Perplexity Professional, usually priced at $20 per thirty days, by way of SheerID’s verification platform that connects to greater than 200,000 authoritative information sources throughout 190 nations. This system will probably be obtainable to all college and post-secondary college students globally the place SheerID gives verification, making 264 million college students eligible worldwide. The providing contains options like cited analysis, in-depth reviews, and interactive AI functions.
The partnership comes as AI adoption surges amongst college students, with 86% of U.S. college students utilizing AI instruments to help their research, in accordance with the businesses. Nevertheless, the fast progress has sparked considerations about tutorial integrity and the necessity for AI instruments designed particularly for instructional use.
How superior verification know-how stops subtle pupil low cost fraud
SheerID, a Portland-based firm based in 2011, has constructed its enterprise round fixing a persistent downside for retailers and repair suppliers: verifying that buyers really belong to teams eligible for particular reductions, resembling college students, navy personnel, or healthcare employees.
“We confirm that buyer viewers information, after which we enrich that model CRM with this primary celebration information, in order that they will totally interact their most loyal audiences,” defined Rebecca Grimes, Chief Income Officer at SheerID, in an unique interview with VentureBeat. “Our platform is constructed in order that we are able to ship this seamless, safe and quick expertise for his or her shoppers.”
The verification course of begins with primary info like identify, date of beginning, and college. SheerID instantly checks this towards authoritative information sources, which Grimes mentioned the corporate has constructed relationships with over 14 years in enterprise. If prompt verification fails, the system strikes to doc overview utilizing each AI-powered evaluation and guide verification.
“If we’re unable to course of that by way of our authoritative information sources, then there’s an incremental step the place you add a doc add,” Grimes mentioned. “As soon as that goes into our system that’s one other layer of supplemental overview that’s each automated by way of our AI doc overview course of in addition to, in some instances, guide doc overview.”
The corporate can full this secondary verification course of in a mean of quarter-hour globally, Grimes mentioned.
Why identity-based advertising gives ship 337% ROI for main manufacturers
The partnership displays the rising sophistication of fraud in pupil low cost applications. Jesse Dwyer, head of communications at Perplexity, mentioned the corporate’s give attention to accuracy makes it notably useful for tutorial customers who want reliable info.
“For many AI mannequin makers, a specific amount of hallucination is a function, and for Perplexity, it’s a bug,” Dwyer mentioned in an unique interview with VentureBeat. “That’s one thing that we discovered lecturers worth, college students worth it, finance professionals worth it enormously.”
Not like opponents that prepare AI fashions on consumer information, Dwyer mentioned Perplexity doesn’t use buyer info for coaching functions. “We don’t prepare in your information,” he mentioned. “The mannequin doesn’t really get educated in your information.”
SheerID operates on a software-as-a-service mannequin, charging for platform entry, verification processing quantity, and help companies. The corporate, which has about 160 workers with places of work within the U.S. and Europe, works with main manufacturers together with Amazon, Spotify, and T-Cellular.
In response to a examine commissioned by SheerID from Forrester Consulting, clients utilizing the corporate’s verification platform achieved a 337% return on funding by way of elevated income, fraud prevention, and operational financial savings.
How Perplexity goals to beat ChatGPT and Google within the battle for pupil customers
AI corporations more and more goal the schooling market. Perplexity differentiates itself from bigger opponents like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s search instruments by emphasizing accuracy and supply attribution.
“What we do with third celebration fashions is we do two types of variations,” Dwyer defined. “We construct our personal in-house fashions that take a look at the question that you simply’re asking… We’re reformulating queries. So that you ask a query a method, what AI is nice at is it could possibly ask that very same query 1000 other ways.”
This give attention to accuracy addresses considerations amongst educators about AI instruments that may generate plausible-sounding however incorrect info. Dwyer mentioned Perplexity’s strategy aligns with tutorial values round constructing data by way of verified sources.
“The peer overview system was developed to create a way of accuracy… in order that future generations can construct on that established data,” he mentioned.
The actual price of gifting away thousands and thousands in free AI companies to college students
The coed entry program is a significant funding for Perplexity, although firm executives declined to specify the price. Dwyer famous that not like conventional software program, AI instruments have direct computational prices for every question.
“Each question has a direct price by way of compute,” Dwyer mentioned. “That’s one thing that we’re conscious of, and we construct our partnerships round.”
Nevertheless, the corporate sees strategic worth in constructing relationships with tutorial customers. Not like many tech corporations that monetize by way of promoting, Dwyer mentioned adverts symbolize “lower than a half of a % of our income” and the corporate doesn’t promote consumer information.
The partnership gives SheerID with publicity to the quickly rising AI market. Grimes in contrast the present second to the early days of music streaming, when SheerID started working with Spotify and different companies.
“I feel that we’re going to see related international applications within the AI trade, past simply participating with college students that will probably be wanted, needing companies like SheerID to help their success,” she mentioned.
How pupil information stays protected in an period of AI privateness considerations
Each corporations emphasised their strategy to information privateness, notably essential given latest considerations about AI corporations’ use of non-public info. SheerID operates as an information processor reasonably than controller, which means buyer information belongs to the model accomplice reasonably than SheerID.
“We’re processors, so we’re not a controller, so we’re simply processing that information on behalf of that model,” Grimes defined. “We don’t take management of the possession of that client information.”
The verification system appears at extra alerts past paperwork to stop fraud, together with IP handle location and proximity to claimed universities. This “triangulation of all of those processes and information” permits SheerID to “confidently verify eligibility or ineligibility towards a suggestion,” Grimes mentioned.
What this partnership alerts for the way forward for AI in schooling
The partnership displays broader traits in each the AI and identification verification industries. SheerID has expanded quickly in recent times, launching new merchandise for in-store verification and income-based eligibility checking. The corporate appointed former Ruby CEO Stephanie Copeland Weber as CEO in June 2024, as founder Jake Weatherly transitioned to a board position.
For Perplexity, based in 2022, the schooling market represents a pure match for its research-focused AI instruments. The corporate processes greater than 150 million questions weekly globally and has positioned itself as an “reply engine” that gives sourced info reasonably than producing inventive content material.
The partnership comes amid broader scrutiny of AI’s position in schooling, with establishments grappling with questions of educational integrity and the suitable use of AI instruments. By requiring verification and emphasizing accuracy, each corporations goal to deal with these considerations whereas increasing entry to AI capabilities.
“We’d encourage educators and universities or researchers of any form to achieve out and check out perplexity,” Dwyer mentioned. “We’re one of many few main tech corporations that’s based not simply by a PhD pupil, which is pretty widespread, we’re based by one who really completed his PhD.”
