Perplexity's 'Billion Dollar Build' to find AI unicorns has a catch

Perplexity AI has announced the Billion Dollar Build, an eight-week competition inviting founders to use its agentic AI system, Perplexity Computer, to build a company with a path to a $1 billion valuation. 

The contest opens for registration on April 14 and will run through early June, ending with a live-streamed pitch event where the top 10 finalists present their products to a panel of judges.

The prize pool is framed as "up to $2 million to build and scale," a combination of up to $1 million in seed investment from the Perplexity Fund, split among up to three winners, and up to $1 million in Perplexity Computer credits. 

What is Perplexity Billion Dollar Build?

The competition is structured in two phases: an eight-week build phase, where teams ship product and gather users, followed by a reveal phase where finalists pitch live.

Perplexity is betting on Perplexity Computer, the multi-agent AI system it launched earlier this year. The company says the tool can reason, research, write code, build products, delegate tasks and run workflows without human input at each step. 

The company claims that in its first four weeks of use, the system saved over $1.6 million and did the equivalent of 3.25 years of work, based on internal estimates.

Participants must use Perplexity Computer as their "primary and most important AI" in the workflow, though they are allowed to use other AI tools alongside it. Judges will evaluate submissions on market size, quality of the working product, traction and whether Perplexity Computer is genuinely core to the company's product and operations.

However, a closer look at the terms and conditions of the competition shows a different picture.

The investment is not guaranteed

The biggest caveat in the competition rules is that winning does not guarantee an investment. The terms and conditions are explicit: "Perplexity Fund is under no obligation to invest in any participant. Investment amounts, if any, are determined at Perplexity Fund's sole discretion."

The FAQ on the competition website makes it equally plain. When asked whether the investment is guaranteed, the answer is: "No. Perplexity Fund is under no obligation to invest in any participant." It further states that any investment is contingent on due diligence, the winner incorporating as a US Delaware C-Corp, a mutually agreed investment agreement, and compliance with the full terms and conditions.

Under Section 13 of the terms, Perplexity Fund can invest in "zero, one, two, three, or more companies — or no companies at all — at its sole discretion." The terms also clarify that the seed investment is not a prize, grant, or gift. Winners will be required to give up a portion of their company's equity in exchange.

Pay to play

To enter, participants must hold an active Perplexity Max or Pro subscription before midnight Pacific Time on April 13, 2026. Perplexity Pro costs $17 a month, while Perplexity Max costs $167 a month. Pro subscribers who want to use more compute during the competition will also need to purchase additional credits separately.

The terms are direct on cost recovery: "Perplexity Fund will not reimburse any such costs unless expressly stated in a separate written agreement." In other words, participants bear the full cost of subscription fees, credit charges and any other expenses they incur over the eight weeks.

Your idea stays yours...but with caveats

The ownership terms give participants ownership of their submission materials, but come with a significant carve-out. Under Section 10, participation "does not restrict Perplexity, Perplexity Fund, or their affiliates from independently developing, creating, investing in, or pursuing products, services, companies, or ideas similar to or competitive with any submission."

Participants are also warned not to submit anything they consider a trade secret or highly sensitive proprietary information, as submissions are not treated as confidential. By entering, participants grant Perplexity Fund a worldwide, royalty-free promotional licence to use their company name, product, code, concepts, workflows, founder likenesses and demo footage for marketing, investor relations, and other commercial purposes without further consent or compensation.

Perplexity also retains the right to access and review all Perplexity Computer queries, prompts, task outputs, workflow data and related account activity of registered participants during the competition period. This authorisation is described as a condition of participation.

Eligibility constraints 

Despite its global positioning, the competition is restricted geographically.

Participants must be “legal residents of the United States” and winners must incorporate as a “US Delaware C-Corp” to qualify for investment.  

This effectively excludes a large base of global developers and startups, particularly in emerging AI markets like India.