• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, 7 hours ago

Perplexity co-founder Aravind Srinivas announced a new feature that will allow users to schedule tasks on WhatsApp. Users can ask the chatbot to remind them to turn off their home heater at a particular time or to send updates about doctor's appointments based on calendars or email notices. It will remind users of daily tasks. 

But this reminder from AI is only one among many services that the company will do. Earlier this week Perplexity formed a partnership with AccuWeather that will give its users access to weather forecast data and alerts, as well as the ability to build out a system to target ads based on current and forecast temperatures.

Through the deal, weather data is served in alerts directly to millions of Perplexity users. But with the AccuWeather database featuring more than 300 parameters and more than 70 years of historical data, it's beyond me why any company would limit this relationship to serving weather information and alerts in a search engine.

That’s where the partnership starts, at least -- not where it ends, although there is no direct evidence or mention of Perplexity AI using weather data to target ads.

Weather data integrated into search engines is a feature that Google and Microsoft worked on years ago.

Google was awarded a patent in 2012 for advertising based on environmental conditions. The integration into Google Ads to automate campaigns primarily relies on third-party solutions, public data and Google Ads Scripts. It allows businesses to tailor advertising to match the local weather conditions, improving ad relevance. 

Microsoft does something similar with ads. It has weather triggered ads and integrates weather data into the Bing search engine.

For now, AccuWeather’s hyperlocal forecasts and features like MinuteCast and RealFeel Temperature will power Perplexity’s weather answer page and generative AI (GAI).

Perplexity is experimenting with advertising, focusing on methods like brand-sponsored queries and influencing related questions in AI chat. These ads are described as being noted as sponsored on the site, but weather is the likely next step.

In a press release, AccuWeather CEO Steven Smith comments on bringing “potentially lifesaving weather forecasts and information directly to Perplexity’s users,” but I believe this data will become an ad-targeting tool in the future.

Perplexity has been the star in Apple's eye, per rumors. Acquiring the company would give Apple the boost it needs in AI to move and remain ahead of the competition. Apple and Meta made recent headlines with news of their interest in acquiring Perplexity.

Meta approached Perplexity about a potential acquisition before the company recently invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, although it's not even clear that Perplexity is for sale.