By: Trends DeskNew Delhi | October 2, 2025 10:13 AM IST 2 min readAravind Srinivas graduated in 2017 with dual degrees in Electrical Engineering (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI, has made his debut on the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025 with a net worth of Rs 21,190 crore, earning him the title of India’s youngest billionaire at 31. Also known as the “Chennai Boy,” Srinivas was inspired by his mother’s unrealised dream of attending IIT Madras.He graduated in 2017 with dual degrees in electrical engineering. Despite facing challenges in switching to computer science, Srinivas learnt Python, excelled in Kaggle competitions, and pursued a PhD in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at UC Berkeley after interning with learning legend Yoshua Bengio, the Hurun report stated.In 2022, Srinivas co-founded Perplexity AI alongside Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski. The startup positioned itself as a bold alternative to Google Search, blending AI with search to offer conversational answers and verified citations.“The idea worked — people gradually started moving away from traditional link-based search to Perplexity’s solution-oriented approach,” noted Hurun.A pivotal moment came in May 2025, when Bharti Airtel partnered with Perplexity to give 360 million Indian users free access to Perplexity Pro. This boosted the platform’s reach, leading to over 30 million active users and 780 million queries per month globally.By July 2025, Perplexity had reached a valuation of $18 billion, firmly establishing itself in the field of the AI industry and placing Srinivas on par with global tech leaders.Also Read | Top 10 richest indians in 2025: Mukesh Ambani reclaims #1 spot; Gautam Adani’s wealth declines by Rs 3.4 lakh croreA former Google researcher, Srinivas walked away from the tech mogul to pursue his vision of building a transparent, verifiable AI search experience. “He wanted to create a more transparent and verifiable AI-powered search experience,” the report states.Story continues below this adAccording to the Hurun report, his debut on the rich list represents more than wealth. It’s seen as a signal of India’s transition from a service-led economy to a deep-tech, product-driven innovation hub.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Perplexitysocial media virals