AI search company Perplexity has signed on as a sponsor of comedian Theo Von’s popular podcast This Past Weekend.
The sponsorship is part of a deal with podcast network The Roost that runs through the end of the year. Perplexity’s AI technology will be woven into Von’s unscripted interviews, answering questions in real-time during the episodes that appear on the video version of Von’s podcast. Perplexity has been advertising on Von’s show over the past couple of months, signaling the start of the new partnership.
Perplexity’s messages won’t carry a “sponsored” label, though Dmitry Shevelenko, the company’s chief business officer, described the arrangement to ADWEEK as a commercial deal, with Perplexity sponsoring the podcast. The messages will replace the standard 60-second ad breaks in Von’s show.
Von, 45, is known for his inquisitive, slightly oddball style. His episodes can be compassionate—covering topics like drug use and addiction—or frivolous, as when he asked comedian Bobby Lee if he “feels Asian” when he wakes up.
“Theo asks the most original, out-of-the-box questions out of podcast hosts,” Shevelenko said. “That kind of extreme curiosity can be extremely funny. He asked questions during our Comet demo that I would have never thought to ask—it was a big part of the appeal.”
The Past Weekend releases every Wednesday, and each episode is up to two hours long. Von often pauses mid-conversation to ask his guests for clarification or looks at the camera to prompt his producer to pull up relevant information—a habit that makes Perplexity’s real-time answers a natural fit into the program.
“This partnership with Perplexity solves those questions,” said Catherine Brown, vp of revenue and partnerships at Root Podcast Network. “And because Perplexity is model agnostic—that gives trustworthy answers.”
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The deal follows Perplexity’s partnership in March with the Ben Shapiro Show. Since then, Shevelenko said the campaign had exceeded expectations, seeing a 50% increase in lifts and recalls, though he declined to share further specifics.