- Nikita Bier accused Perplexity CEO of running undisclosed promotional campaigns on X
- Perplexity released an AI-integrated PC app turning computers into AI employees
- Bier linked allegations to violations of X's terms of service by Perplexity
X's head of product, Nikita Bier, has called out Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas for allegedly running "undisclosed promotional campaigns" about his artificial intelligence (AI) company. The X executive said running such campaigns did not reflect well on the integrity of his company. Bier was responding to a Perplexity post about the release of its Personal Computer, which integrates the AI tool with Mac App, essentially turning a computer into an AI employee.
"Can you please stop the undisclosed promotion campaigns? It deceives users and it does not reflect well on your company or your integrity," Bier posted and tagged Srinivas.
Notably, Bier quote-tweeted a post from Simon Goddek, a PhD biotechnologist and CEO of premium supplement brand Sunfluencer. In his posts, Goddek alleged that Perplexity was violating X's terms of service (TOS) by running undisclosed ad campaigns. Goddek also shared a screenshot claiming it shows an advertisement from Perplexity, which has not been disclosed as a paid promotion.
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Social Media Reactions
As Bier's post went viral, social media users were mixed in their response with a section agreeing with Bier's assessment while others said Perplexity and Srinivas were simply promoting their product.
"The "No Paid Promo Tags" line tells you everything. If you need to hide the disclosure, you already know it's dishonest," said one user, while another added: "Undisclosed ads are basically soft manipulation. People notice more than you think."
A third commented: "I knew something was off, I noticed it yesterday. There were many accounts posting within minutes, getting 10k+ views almost instantly, and several reposts too, but barely 10 likes or comments. It didn't add up at all."
A fourth said: "Nikita, they launched their product and did promotion, why are you getting restless? Focus on your own lane. Right now it looks like you joined the launch party without invitation."
