Perplexity AI co-founder Aravind Srinivas revealed in Nikhil Kamath’s podcast that he interned in Bengaluru for three weeks but did not explore the city at all and remained mostly in his flat apart from being at work.
Srinivas opened up about the topic while making an appearance on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s WTF Online podcast. He said that he skipped exploring Bengaluru due to its traffic.
“I think I was in this place called Koramangala. I didn’t actually explore. I just worked all the time. Now that I look back I probably think I should have explored,” Srinivas admitted on the podcast.
But the IIT Madras graduate added that he had no regrets about not exploring the city as the traffic was bad, even back then.
“I remember the traffic being bad back then, and I hear it’s even worse now. So, staying in and working was probably a smart move,” Srinivas said.
As anyone who has ever been to Bengaluru, it was the city’s weather that was the one thing that the Perplexity co-founder enjoyed during his stay.
“I do remember the weather was awesome compared to Chennai. I think the weather was much better,” he said on the issue.
How did Aravind Srinivas enter the world of AI?
Aravind Srinivas also talked about his entry point into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), saying that his interest in machine learning grew after he entered a Kaggle competition.
“That was my entry into AI. It wasn’t just about winning-it was about figuring out how machines learn from data,” he told Nikhil Kamath.
Nikhil Kamath also asked Srinivas the reason he pushes himself so hard. The Perplexity CEO said that he ‘enjoys’ pushing himself to the limit.
“It’s not about chasing some goal to scale. it’s about what I love doing,” he said.
During the podcast appearance, Srinivas recalled a memorable conversation with American podcaster Lex Fridman, who recently interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Srinivas said that Fridman extensively questioned him about neural networks, AI fundamentals, and even Google’s commercial strategy.
Another topic that the Perplexity CEO’s podcast appearance touched on was the importance of asking questions, no matter how simple they might appear.
Kamath and Srinivas also discussed the most significant developments in AI, India’s place in this rapidly evolving field, where the true prospects are, and what is being missed, among other topics.