AI Startup Perplexity Builds Search Engine for Trump’s Truth Social

Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity is developing a custom AI-powered search engine for Truth Social, the social media platform founded by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The tool, named Truth Search AI, is already available on the web version of Truth Social. Public beta testing for the iOS and Android apps is expected soon.

Perplexity's technology promises “direct, contextually accurate answers with transparent citations,” significantly expanding the information available to Truth Social users. However, the platform retains control over which sources the AI is allowed to use.

Truth Social leverages the Perplexity Sonar API, which enables real-time internet searches — even from sites that typically block Perplexity’s crawlers — while supporting structured output formats that let users customize how search results appear.

According to Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer in a comment to TechCrunch, the Sonar API will only operate within the bounds set by Truth Social. “We have neither visibility nor control over that,” Dwyer said, comparing the use case to private enterprise systems or academic research.

To evaluate the sources used, Axios posed various questions to the bot — such as “What happened on January 6, 2021?” and “Why was Donald Trump impeached?” In all cases, FoxNews was the primary or sole cited source, along with FoxBusiness, The Washington Times, and Epoch Times.

In contrast, Perplexity’s public search tool offers answers sourced from a broader range of platforms, including Wikipedia, Reddit, YouTube, NPR, and Politico.

Truth Social plans to refine and expand its search feature based on user feedback, while continuing to implement platform improvements, according to Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes.

Perplexity’s Chief Commercial Officer, Dmytro Shevelenko, emphasized that the company’s AI provides “transparent citations that allow anyone to dig deeper into the details.”