Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google search rival Perplexity AI launched “Perplexity Computer” on Wednesday, positioning it as a next-generation AI platform capable of unifying files, tools, memory, and models into a single system.

CEO Aravind Srinivas announced the launch on X, writing: “What has Perplexity been up to last two months? We’ve silently been working on the next big thing: Perplexity Computer. Computer unifies every current capability of AI into a single system. Files, tools, memory, and models, orchestrated together, working for you.”

How It Works

Perplexity Computer orchestrates 19 AI models to handle specialized tasks simultaneously. According to Srinivas, the system is multi-model by design, with individual models functioning as dedicated tools — one for reasoning, another for coding, another for writing.

Srinivas invoked an Apple Inc.‘s co-founder Steve Jobs analogy in a post on X: “Musicians play their instruments, I play the orchestra.”

Perplexity said in an official statement that Computer “can research, design, code, deploy, and manage any project end-to-end,” operating with persistent memory, hundreds of connectors, web access, and a real file system.

Pricing And Access

Perplexity is rolling out the feature initially to Max subscribers, with usage-based pricing. Srinivas wrote: “We’re opening it initially to all Max users, and introducing usage-based pricing, which we believe is the right business model for AI instead of ads. Once we are satisfied with load tests, Pro users will be able to run jobs on Computer too.”

Max users receive 10,000 credits monthly with their subscription, plus a one-time 20,000 credit bonus expiring 30 days after grant. Enterprise availability is slated to follow.

Background: From Ads To Revenue

The launch comes as Perplexity increasingly pivots toward subscriptions and enterprise monetization. On Feb. 18, Perplexity executives reportedly said that the company would “focus more on revenue and revenue retention than on other metrics, such as the number of questions it answers.”

The company had reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue by October and previously inked a $400 million deal with Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP) to integrate its AI search into Snapchat.

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