Perplexity: How Big Tech Kills Competitors by Building Them

Perplexity is not just another AI startup. It is a manifestation of a new corporate logic, a strategy designed to dominate markets without firing a single shot. In the old days, companies fought to crush competitors through price wars, acquisitions, or aggressive marketing. Today, the smartest giants don’t fight at all—they create the very rivals that will neutralize threats to their dominance. Perplexity is a prime example of this principle in action.

On the surface, Perplexity looks like a small, independent challenger: sleek interface, fast responses, a promise of a “fresh” AI experience. Users see choice, innovation, and novelty. But underneath, it runs on the same computational backbone, the same models, and the same data access as the very companies it supposedly competes with. It is, in essence, a controlled experiment designed to capture attention, test interfaces, and drain market share from potential disruptors—all while appearing entirely separate.

This approach is elegant in its simplicity. Instead of risking the core business by experimenting openly, Big Tech spins up a parallel entity that can take risks, pivot rapidly, and appeal to new audiences without endangering the parent brand. The market believes it’s watching a fight between independent players, when in fact the game is rigged from the start. Perplexity absorbs traffic, engages users, and channels trust toward outputs that reinforce the system, subtly shaping perception while ensuring the monopoly behind it only grows stronger.

The brilliance of this model lies not in technology, but in psychology and perception. Users don’t notice that the new “competitor” is feeding on the same resources and strategy as the giant they thought they were avoiding. Every interaction, every query answered, every synthesized conclusion builds a subtle dependence on the product. The company isn’t selling software or AI; it’s selling a shortcut to understanding, a mediated view of reality that users start relying on without realizing the underlying architecture of control.

Perplexity also demonstrates a shift in what modern monopolies target. Google monopolized links. Facebook monopolized attention. Now, Perplexity monopolizes interpretation itself. It doesn’t just deliver answers—it decides which sources to weigh, which evidence matters, and which narratives emerge. By designing the interface, refining the outputs, and smoothing the user experience, it becomes not only a tool but an invisible arbiter of trust, subtly shaping the mental landscape of its audience.

What we are seeing is a new kind of corporate warfare, where the battlefield is cognition and perception, and the weapons are algorithms. Companies no longer need to battle competitors directly—they manufacture them, guide their growth, and quietly ensure they eliminate any real threats. Perplexity is not the monster that destroys; it is the smart, silent weapon that renders real competition obsolete while looking like freedom of choice.

This is the future of Big Tech: cognitive monopolies. Control over infrastructure and data is no longer enough. Dominance now comes from shaping how people perceive, synthesize, and trust information. Those who master this strategy—who can create rivals to eliminate rivals, all under the guise of innovation—aren’t competing; they are **shaping reality itself**. And Perplexity is proof that this is not a hypothetical scenario—it is happening right now, in plain sight.

The market isn’t broken, but the rules have changed. Perplexity doesn’t just challenge old players—it rewrites the game. And anyone still trying to compete the old way, by being “better” or “faster,” is already playing in someone else’s sandbox. The lesson is clear: in the age of AI and Big Tech, the smartest move isn’t to fight your competition. It’s to build it yourself.