Consumer AI usage has hit a plateau. Perplexity CBO Dmitry Shevelenko says that after months of growth, usage flattened starting in late 2025. Still, his company’s annualized recurring revenue doubled from $250 million to $500 million in the same period.
Shevelenko argues that revenue is a “more honest metric” than monthly active users, which can include hype and exploratory activity. He says Perplexity is increasingly used for work tasks, driving real productivity gains. The gap, he says, is between AI capabilities and consumer behavior.
The industry now faces a “capabilities overhang” where many users still treat AI like a Web 1.0 tool. According to Shevelenko, the biggest constraint is human curiosity and agency, not the tech itself.
Novelty spikes bring awareness, but sustained engagement requires users to build their own habitual use cases. For AI to deliver economic productivity, accuracy in search and high-quality data sources are critical.