On-Device AI Threatens Traditional Data Centres – Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas shared his vision of AI moving from centralized data centres to local devices during a podcast with YouTuber Prakhar Gupta. He stated that the biggest threat to traditional data centres is if AI intelligence can be “packed locally on a chip running on the device,” eliminating the need for inference from central servers.

Srinivas explained that on-device AI could reduce reliance on massive, specialized infrastructure and reshape the economics of global data-centre investments. He also highlighted that human intelligence is far more energy-efficient than large data centres, driven by curiosity and the ability to question assumptions qualities current AI lacks.

He further noted that personalised, ubiquitous AI could democratize access to powerful tools, much like smartphones, and age is not a barrier to adopting AI—curiosity is.