And the winner of US election coverage? Perplexity

Few would have predicted that on US election night, Perplexity — the smallest player in the AI field — would emerge as the clear winner in providing the best coverage.

Using real time information garnered from the Associated Press, Perplexity was able to deliver sober, up-to-the-minute reporting, something its competitors either did not even try to do or failed miserably.

For example, Threads and the rest of Meta’s networks simply didn’t bother with election night: in the midst of the overwhelming triumph of its enemy, aware perhaps of what was coming its way, the company decided opted for a very low profile, effectively treating this momentous occasion as just another night. Threads’ “For you” timeline showed erroneous or old information for much of the night, prompting anger among many users.

X’s AI, Grok, was carried away by the euphoria rampant among Elon Musk’s supporters, continuing with the pro-Trump line it had taken throughout the campaign, and called Trump wins in many states before the results were in. Many Democratic Party supporters, among them Taylor Swift fans, are steadily moving to Bluesky, abandoning a network they now see as hostile territory.

Meanwhile, Gemini, Claude and ChatGPT stayed out of the fray, politely refusing requests for information on how the…