Money can’t buy love, but it might buy users.
Perplexity AI bet big on that idea, announcing a million-dollar Super Bowl sweepstakes that turned asking questions into a potentially life-changing activity for those using the AI search engine during the Super Bowl.
The contest, scheduled for the February 9 Kansas City-Philadelphia game, is a multi-pronged user acquisition strategy. Participants can earn up to 26 entries through a combination of downloads, referrals, and actual app use during the game.
Perplexity has been on a roll lately following a substantial growth phase for the San Francisco-based company.
According to the latest AI App Report from Business of Apps, Perplexity’s user base soared by 50% in merely three months, increasing from 10 million to 15 million monthly active users by January 2025.
They recently released a self-hosted version of the controversial DeepSeek R1 reasoning model for their premium users, offering them the chance to access an America-first version of the Chinese model.
CEO Aravind Srinivas made sure to emphasize that all this fancy AI processing happened strictly on US and European servers, a not-so-subtle nod to concerns about DeepSeek data flowing through Chinese data centers.
All Perplexity Pro users now get 500 daily DeepSeek R1 queries (without censorship and prompts not going to China).
Free users get 5 daily queries.
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) January 30, 2025
The company also launched an AI shopping assistant for its Pro users in the U.S. and, in a move that raised eyebrows across Silicon Valley, submitted a merger proposal to TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Considering it can buy TikTok, a $1 million prize doesn’t seem like a crazy marketing move.
The contest rules are simple. Participants need to be U.S. residents 18 years or older, with entry requirements that include referring a bunch of friends and posing a bunch of questions to the AI during the game.
Do all that and you get into a random drawing an hour after the final whistle.
Perplexity launched a web portal with a QR code that people can scan to download the app and start participating.
While no other AI companies are running sweepstakes that we know of, there are sure to be plenty of Super Bowl ads showcasing the use of the magic technology from Big Tech.
Polymarket data shows that bettors have already accurately predicted that Google would be among them.
“We’re running 50 commercials profiling 50 small businesses using AI to get more done—one from every state.” the tech giant announced last week.
Other AI companies are also on bettors’ radars, with OpenAI being the favorite, with a 58% chance of airing a commercial.
For those who love long shots, DeepSeek has just 1% odds of securing a Super Bowl spot. Maybe it’ll surprise the pack yet again.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
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