San Francisco headquartered Perplexity AI has launched its Android-based assistant to compete against existing players like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa. Backed by Nvidia and Jeff Bezos, the AI startup began the rollout on Thursday (January 23). This new AI agent, named ‘Perplexity Assistant,’ is specially designed for Android devices. It is capable of performing several tasks independently and can even take multi-step actions on behalf of its user.
This AI multimodal can write an email, set a reminder, play an old YouTube video, translate Shakespeare, and even book dinner reservations for users. According to the company, a user can ask the assistant to “get me a ride.” Once it learns where the user wants to go, the assistant automatically opens Uber (or another app) and books a ride accordingly.
We are excited to launch the Perplexity Assistant to all Android users. This marks the transition for Perplexity from an answer engine to a natively integrated assistant that can call other apps and perform basic tasks for you. Update or install Perplexity app on Play Store. pic.twitter.com/FSRDLtVWzB
— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) January 23, 2025
Interestingly, users can control all of these with voice commands, a simple action button, or even gestures. The Assistant can be accessed through the Perplexity mobile app and will run on the platform’s current ‘answer engine’ model. What makes Perplexity Assistant even more special is that it is available in 15 languages on Google’s Play Store, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Hindi.
This comes at a time when AI agents are becoming the new hot trend in the generative AI industry. In fact, the AI trendsetter OpenAI has also launched an AI-based agent – Operator – which can perform various tasks autonomously on behalf of users, such as filling out forms, booking flights, planning grocery orders, and even completing user purchases. However, while OpenAI’s Operator is available only for ChatGPT Pro (a $200 per month plan) subscribers, Perplexity Assistant is free to use as part of the mobile app.
“We’re going to make it available for free to all Android users. All you gotta do is switch your default assistant on your Android phone from Google (or Gemini) to Perplexity. It’s a no-brainer because neither of those assistants can handle the tasks Perplexity Assistant can,” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas wrote in a post to X.
Meanwhile, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas also says that, unlike Google’s monopoly on the default search engine for Android, the default assistant should be open to more competition. He believes that, unlike the search engine situation, Android will allow more choices for digital assistants.
Speaking of availability for iOS devices, the company clarifies that they are willing to make it available on iOS, but they need Apple’s permission for the same. Notably, in 2024, Apple added ‘Apple Intelligence’ into its voice assistant – Siri – in a partnership with OpenAI.
