In the fast-evolving world of artificial intelligence, where innovation moves at lightning speed, few stories capture the imagination quite like that of Aravind Srinivas. At just 31 years old, this Chennai-born tech whiz has skyrocketed to billionaire status, debuting on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025 with a staggering net worth of ₹21,190 crore. As the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, Srinivas isn’t just riding the AI wave—he’s reshaping how we search for information in the digital age. His journey from the bustling streets of Chennai to the heart of Silicon Valley is a masterclass in grit, vision, and timely innovation. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, tech enthusiast, or just someone who loves a good underdog tale, this startup story is one you need to know.
Name: Aravind Srinivas
Age: 31 years (in 2025)
DOB: June 7, 1994.
Birthplace: Chennai, India
The Startup: Perplexity AI
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Co-founder & CEO: Aravind Srinivas
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Founded: In 2022, along with Denis Yarats and Andy Konwinski (and others)
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What it Does: An AI-powered conversational / chat-based search engine aiming to provide fast, accurate, context-aware, reliable answers to user queries — combining generative AI + real-time web data / verified sources.
Net Worth & Recognition
- Net Worth Estimate: Approx ₹21,190 crore (~US$ ~2.5-3+ billion depending on conversion) as per the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025.
- Title: Declared India’s Youngest Billionaire (2025) in that list.
His academic ascent was nothing short of meteoric. In 2017, he graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras with dual degrees in Electrical Engineering, where he even taught reinforcement learning courses to fellow students. But Srinivas had his sights set higher. He jetted off to the University of California, Berkeley, for a PhD in Computer Science, wrapping it up in 2021. His research delved into cutting-edge realms like contrastive learning for computer vision, reinforcement learning, transformer-based models for image and video generation, and more—fields that would soon power the AI revolution.
Post-PhD, Srinivas didn’t retreat to academia. He dove headfirst into the industry, landing stints at the world’s AI powerhouses: OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind. At OpenAI, he contributed to groundbreaking projects on large language models; at Google, he tackled search algorithms; and at DeepMind, he pushed boundaries in reinforcement learning. These weren’t just jobs—they were bootcamps, honing his skills in the crucibles of innovation. By 2022, with a resume stacked like a Jenga tower of expertise, Srinivas was ready to build something of his own.
Founding Perplexity AI: The Birth of a “Google Killer”
On August 1, 2022, Aravind Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI in San Francisco, California. His partners in this venture were Denis Yarats (ex-Meta AI researcher), Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski— a dream team blending AI research, engineering, and product savvy.
Core Idea and Innovation: Perplexity isn’t your average search tool; it’s an AI-powered “answer engine” that delivers concise, sourced responses to queries, powered by models like GPT-3. Gone are the days of sifting through irrelevant links—instead, users get fast, verifiable answers with citations, fostering trust in an era plagued by AI hallucinations and misinformation. Srinivas envisioned it as “the fastest way to get answers to any questions,” turning search into a natural conversation.
Growth Milestones:
- User Explosion: By 2025, Perplexity boasts 30 million active users worldwide, processing 780 million queries monthly. India emerged as its largest market, with a pivotal May 2025 partnership with Bharti Airtel granting free Perplexity Pro access to 360 million Indian users—supercharging adoption in the Global South.
- Product Edge: Features like real-time sourcing and reduced bias have made it a darling among researchers, students, and professionals, positioning it as a direct rival to Google.
This wasn’t overnight magic; it was strategic iteration, starting from a bare-bones prototype to a polished platform that redefines information retrieval.
The Billionaire Crown: Hurun Rich List 2025 Spotlight
List Debut and Ranking: The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025, released in early October, crowned Srinivas as the youngest billionaire at #1 in the under-40 category. His ₹21,190 crore fortune (roughly $2.5 billion USD) outshines even fresher faces like Zepto’s Kaivalya Vohra (22) and Aadit Palicha (23), whose nets haven’t yet hit billionaire thresholds.
Broader Context: Amid India’s 358 billionaires (up from prior years), whose collective ₹167 lakh crore wealth rivals half the GDP, Srinivas symbolizes the youth-driven tech surge. Hurun’s report hailed it: “The debut of Aravind Srinivas… underscores [India’s] transformation to a deep-tech, product-led powerhouse.” With new billionaires minted weekly and daily wealth additions of ₹1,991 crore, his story spotlights AI’s role in wealth democratization—contrasting titans like Mukesh Ambani (₹9.55 lakh crore) with nimble innovators.
Future Horizons: India-Centric Expansion and Legacy Building
Srinivas isn’t resting on laurels. With India as Perplexity’s growth engine, he’s plotting big:
- Local Hub: Eyeing an engineering center in Bengaluru or Hyderabad to tap India’s talent pool.
- Investment Arm: Launching a “Perplexity Fund” for AI bets in healthcare, education, travel, and shopping.
- Global Ambition: Scaling to 100 million users by 2026, while mentoring young founders—proving his wealth is a tool for ecosystem building.
At 31, he’s already a mentor figure, open-sourcing knowledge via podcasts and talks, ensuring his legacy ripples beyond balance sheets.
In 2025, Aravind Srinivas, a 31-year-old visionary from Chennai, earned the title of India’s youngest AI billionaire, marking a new milestone in the country’s growing dominance in the global tech ecosystem. Aravind is the co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, a revolutionary startup that’s redefining how people interact with information.
Perplexity AI is an AI-powered conversational search engine that merges real-time internet data with generative AI to provide fast, factual, and trustworthy answers – a direct competitor to platforms like Google and ChatGPT. Under Aravind’s leadership, the company’s valuation soared, propelling him into billionaire status, as listed in the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025.
A graduate of IIT Madras and UC Berkeley, Aravind began his journey in artificial intelligence with research roles at OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind, before launching Perplexity with co-founders Denis Yarats and Andy Konwinski in 2022. His startup’s success symbolizes the power of global collaboration with Indian talent at the forefront of technological innovation.
What makes Aravind’s story truly inspiring is not just his wealth, but his vision to democratize information and make AI technology more transparent, accessible, and useful for everyone. His journey from a curious student in Chennai to a billionaire CEO in Silicon Valley serves as an example of what determination, innovation, and curiosity can achieve in the digital age.
Today, Aravind Srinivas represents the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs – those who blend global exposure with deep technical expertise and a passion for solving real-world problems through AI. His story is a testament to how India’s youth are shaping the future of artificial intelligence and innovation on a global scale.
