Perplexity

Perplexity is an AI company founded by Aravind Srinivas that started as an AI-powered search engine (often called an "answer engine") and expanded into a multi-model orchestration platform. Unlike traditional search engines that return links, Perplexity synthesizes information from multiple sources and provides direct answers with citations, combining web search with large language model reasoning.

The company's strategic positioning is distinctive in the AI landscape. Rather than building its own foundation model to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, Perplexity routes queries to whichever model is best suited for each task. Claude handles reasoning, Gemini handles research, Grok handles speed-critical tasks. When a better model becomes available for any subtask, Perplexity swaps it in, meaning user workflows improve automatically as the underlying models improve.

In February 2026, Perplexity launched Computer, a multi-agent orchestration system that goes beyond search into full workflow execution. Users describe a goal and Computer breaks it into subtasks, assigns specialized sub-agents to each step, and runs them across isolated compute environments. The product gained viral attention when a user built a real-time financial terminal rivaling Bloomberg's $30,000/year product using Perplexity Computer's $200/month subscription. The launch positioned Perplexity not as a model company but as a coordination layer, building the orchestra rather than the instruments.