AI-powered search engine Perplexity has launched Perplexity Labs, significantly expanding its service. This new suite, exclusive to its $20-per-month Pro subscribers, empowers users to transform ideas into concrete outputs such as reports, spreadsheets, interactive dashboards, and simple web applications. This development positions Perplexity as a direct competitor to the AI productivity offerings from tech giants Google and Microsoft.
The company states that Labs functions as an AI-driven “team” capable of executing complex projects, a notable step up from its origins as an “answer machine.” Perplexity Labs aims to accelerate project completion by automating research, analysis, coding, and asset generation, reportedly performing 10 minutes or more of self-supervised work.
According to Perplexity, the AI suite can accomplish in minutes tasks that might have previously consumed days of manual effort, all while maintaining Perplexity’s core commitment to accuracy.
Available on web, iOS, and Android, with desktop applications for Mac and Windows forthcoming, Perplexity Labs reflects a shift in the AI landscape and highlights a trend where AI tools are evolving from mere information retrieval systems to active creation and workflow automation platforms, intensifying the race to provide comprehensive AI work assistants.
Core Capabilities of Perplexity Labs
Perplexity Labs, included in the $20/month Pro subscription, is strategically priced to attract users who might otherwise subscribe to multiple specialized AI tools. It integrates several key functionalities to deliver its project creation promises. A central feature is “Code Generation,” where the AI autonomously writes and executes code for tasks like data structuring, applying formulas, and creating various outputs including text documents and spreadsheets.
All generated materials, such as charts, images, CSV files, and code, are systematically organized within a dedicated “Assets” tab, allowing users to easily view and download them.
Another ambitious feature is “Mini Apps,” which enables Labs to develop and deploy simple interactive web applications, like dashboards or basic websites, directly within a project’s “App” tab.
This aims to provide users with functional outputs without requiring external development tools. Perplexity suggests Labs is suitable for diverse projects, from marketing campaigns and business finance analysis to meal planning.
This approach is more comprehensive than Perplexity’s “Research” mode (formerly “Deep Research”), which focuses on quick, in-depth answers. Labs, in contrast, invests more time—often 10 minutes or longer—and utilizes a broader toolkit for more extensive project deliverables, as detailed by Perplexity. Some users, as noted in Ars Technica’s review, might find this processing time considerable compared to more instantaneous AI responses.
Strategic Positioning and Competitive Arena
The introduction of Perplexity Labs signals the company’s clear strategy to expand beyond its search engine origins. This initiative follows other strategic moves, including the upcoming Comet web browser, and the acquisition of Read.vc in January, a professional social media network. Perplexity is reportedly in talks to raise up to $1 billion in capital at an $18 billion valuation, indicating strong investor belief in its growth potential.
Perplexity Labs, however, enters a fiercely competitive market. Google has been actively integrating its Gemini AI across Google Workspace, such as Google Sheets gaining AI-powered data analysis.
Google also introduced Workspace Flows, an AI platform designed to automate multi-step business workflows using agentic AI. Google’s AI research assistant, NotebookLM, has also seen continuous enhancements, including web-powered source discovery, expanded language support for its audio overviews, and dedicated mobile apps.
Access to Google’s advanced AI features is often structured through tiered subscriptions, such as the Google AI Pro and the high-end Google AI Ultra plans.
Microsoft, a longstanding player with its Microsoft 365 Copilot (introduced in March 2023), also continues to bolster its AI offerings, such as. For example, in February Excel Copilot was enhanced with AI-powered data search and automated imports.
Microsoft is also pursuing specialized models like SpreadsheetLLM for sophisticated AI data analysis and is focusing on advanced AI agents, highlighted in its Copilot Wave 2 Spring release. This release introduced new agents, an Agent Store, and improved IT controls for AI deployment.
The Evolving Landscape of AI Assistants
The development of sophisticated productivity tools like Perplexity Labs, Google’s agentic systems, and Microsoft’s specialized Copilot agents reflects a significant industry trend. AI is transitioning from a passive assistant to an active collaborator, capable of understanding complex instructions and executing multi-step tasks.
Google articulated its vision for such systems, describing agents as combining advanced AI model intelligence with tool access to act on a user’s behalf under their control.
This increasing capability also brings challenges. While Perplexity emphasizes accuracy, caution persist about the current reliability of AI technology, mostly because of hallucinations. For example, OpenAI’s new o3 and o4-mini models have shown increased hallucination rates and fabricated actions in testing, raising concerns.
As these generative AI systems and AI assistants become more deeply integrated into daily workflows, the balance between power, reliability, and user trust will be crucial for their widespread adoption.
