Perplexity just dropped its biggest update yet, and it's not about better search results. The $9 billion AI startup launched Perplexity Labs this week, a new tool that promises to turn your random ideas into finished work products while you grab coffee.
Key Points:
- Perplexity Labs requires the $20/month Pro plan
- Available now on web, iOS, and Android, with Mac and Windows apps coming soon.
- Labs can create reports, spreadsheets, dashboards, and interactive mini web apps using code execution and real-time research
- Labs runs longer, more complex workflows than Perplexity’s standard search
Here's the pitch: instead of just getting answers to your questions, Labs will spend 10 minutes or more researching, coding, and building whatever project you throw at it. Need a marketing dashboard for your startup? A financial analysis spreadsheet? A simple web app to track your fitness goals? Labs claims it can handle all of that without you lifting a finger.
The tool represents Perplexity's boldest move yet to differentiate itself from Google and the growing pack of AI search competitors.
"Labs is designed to invest more time — 10 minutes or longer — and leverage additional tools to accomplish tasks," the company explained in its announcement.
The technology behind Labs combines several AI capabilities that Perplexity has been quietly building. It can browse the web for current information, execute code to crunch numbers and format data, and generate charts and images. All of this gets packaged into what Perplexity calls an "Assets" tab where you can download everything the AI created.
The mini web apps feature is particularly ambitious. Labs can actually build and deploy simple interactive websites directly within the interface — think basic dashboards, slideshows, or data visualization tools. You don't need to know how to code or find a developer. You just describe what you want and wait.
Early examples from Perplexity show Labs creating everything from meal planning spreadsheets to business pitch decks. The company has set up a Projects Gallery with templates to help users get started. The goal is clearly to move beyond the "AI as better Google" positioning toward "AI as personal research assistant and worker."