British telecommunications operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has teamed up with AI-powered search engine Perplexity to supply its clients one yr of free entry to Perplexity Professional, a sophisticated analysis device valued at GBP 150 yearly. The supply, accessible to all O2 and Virgin Media broadband clients by way of the Precedence program, is legitimate till Might 2025, VMO2 stated.
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Virgin Media O2
Virgin Media O2 is an built-in communications supplier providing broadband web, fixed-line telephony and cell companies in the UK. Virgin Media O2 is a 50:50 three way partnership between Liberty World and Telefonica. Earlier, Spain-based Telefonica, by way of its funding arm, invested an undisclosed quantity into Perplexity AI to combine its companies into its choices to clients.
Perplexity Professional
VMO2 says Perplexity Professional enhances on-line analysis by offering clear, AI-generated solutions with trusted citations. It leverages essentially the most highly effective AI fashions accessible to supply detailed solutions. Customers may also entry Professional Search, a characteristic that breaks down queries into smaller steps for extra complete outcomes and work together by way of a conversational interface with voice mode.
The collaboration comes after a Virgin Media O2 survey revealed 73 p.c of Brits are more and more open to AI, with many utilizing it for duties like discovering product opinions (67 p.c), journey planning (59 p.c), and even private recommendation (41 p.c). In keeping with the operator, half of Brits even admit to AI enhancing their life at residence.
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Virgin Media O2’s Dedication to AI
Lisa Johnstone, Director of Precedence at Virgin Media O2, stated, “With an increasing number of of us embracing AI to enhance the best way we work, store and journey, the know-how is changing into useful in on a regular basis digital life and we’re right here to assist our members navigate it with confidence. Whether or not our members need to plan a vacation or lower your expenses on their weekly purchasing listing, our new Perplexity Professional reward is like having an knowledgeable in your pocket to seek out the most effective offers and handle day-to-day wants.”
Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Enterprise Officer of Perplexity, stated: “Everybody deserves instantaneous, dependable solutions to their questions without having to sift by way of limitless net pages and Search engine optimization-driven content material. As an alternative, Perplexity delivers this expertise in a method that prioritises belief and the person expertise. Virgin Media O2 not solely makes it attainable for individuals to make use of Perplexity on their units, however they’re additionally taking their dedication to their subscribers a step additional by giving them Perplexity Professional free for a yr.”
Perplexity Professional’s Options
Perplexity Professional additionally permits customers to decide on between the newest superior AI fashions, together with Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, OpenAI’s GPT-4 Omni, and Perplexity’s Sonar mannequin (constructed on Meta’s LlaMa 3.1). O2 and Virgin Media broadband clients can declare the supply by way of the Precedence app or web site till Might 2025.
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Lately, O2 launched a brand new device within the combat towards fraud: Daisy, a human-like, AI-powered “Granny.” Daisy is designed to waste scammers’ time by partaking them in lengthy, lifelike conversations.
Created with AI and educated with the assistance of one among YouTube’s best-known scambaiters, Jim Browning, Daisy can work together autonomously, conserving fraudsters on the road for as much as 40 minutes and stopping them from concentrating on actual victims.
As a part of O2’s “Swerve the Scammers” marketing campaign, Daisy goals to boost consciousness concerning the rising fraud epidemic within the UK. This initiative is a part of O2’s ongoing efforts to guard clients from the rise in scams, the operator stated.
