Perplexity has launched Perplexity Computer, a new AI agent tool that the company claims "unifies every current AI capability into a single system." Available exclusively to subscribers of its $200-per-month Perplexity Max tier, the tool can execute complex workflows independently using 19 different AI models, even creating subagents to handle specific problems.
The cloud-based tool is designed to handle tasks involving data collection, financial or legal analysis, and the creation of finished websites or visualisations. Its release follows the company's pivot away from advertising last year and represents a strategic focus on serving users making "GDP-moving decisions," with a new emphasis on enterprise subscriptions for deep research.
Strategic Shift and Market Positioning
Perplexity executives, who spoke on background during a press briefing last week, stated the company is no longer focused on maximising user numbers. "You don’t hear us talk about MAUs ever, because we’re not actually on a mission to get as many users as possible," one executive said. This contrasts with competitors like OpenAI, which claims 800 million weekly users.
The company recently released a new benchmark for complex research tasks, called Draco, where its own deep research offering reportedly outperforms competitors like Google's Gemini. Perplexity also stated it is no longer reliant on other companies' APIs for its web index and now operates its own AI-optimised search API.
The Multi-Model Future and Technical Approach
Perplexity is betting on a "multi-model" future, arguing that AI models are specialising rather than becoming commoditised. Company data from December 2025 shows users frequently switch models based on task: visual outputs are most often sent to Gemini Flash, software engineering tasks to Claude Sonnet 4.5, and medical research to GPT-5.1.
The software can automatically select the ideal model for a given query, aiming for the most cost-effective and accurate answers. This includes using modified open-source Chinese-built LLMs for cheaper query processing, a technique the company was previously criticised for hiding from customers. Executives now argue that, done transparently, it is an efficient way to optimise LLM queries.
Product Roadmap and User Concerns
Further developments are planned, including bringing the Perplexity Comet browser to iOS next month and hosting a developers' conference, 'Ask', on 11 March in San Francisco to promote third-party API use.
However, this focus on monetisation has sparked user complaints. The Perplexity subreddit features frequent grievances about new rate limits on both free and subscription tiers. Company executives dismissed these concerns, with one stating, "Any discussions on the free tier being made worse or rate-limited is completely false."
The launch event for Perplexity Computer was intended to include a live demonstration, but the company cancelled it hours beforehand due to flaws discovered in the product.