Perplexity launches Teammates AI agents

Perplexity has launched Teammates, a set of always-on AI agents designed for workplace tasks. Unlike a one-off chatbot session, Teammates are meant to persist across tasks and take on multiple roles within a workspace. The agents can pull existing projects, skills and memory from Perplexity tools that users already rely on, which could make them feel less like a blank chat window and more like ongoing digital coworkers. The launch puts Perplexity in more direct competition with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for work-focused AI assistants. Those companies are also building agents that can remember context, use tools and handle multi-step jobs on behalf of users. Perplexity's approach emphasizes continuity: a Teammate can stay involved in a project, retain relevant context and switch between responsibilities inside a shared workspace. That could be useful for teams that want AI to help with research, planning, drafting and coordination without repeatedly explaining the same background. The product also shows how AI assistants are moving from general conversation toward persistent workplace identities. Instead of asking a chatbot a single question, users may assign an agent a role and expect it to keep working alongside them. The launch is a sign that Perplexity wants a larger share of daily work activity, not just search traffic. By tying Teammates to existing projects and memory, the company is trying to make its agents more useful over time and harder to replace with a simple chat interface. The move reflects a broader shift in the AI industry toward agents that can operate continuously, remember past work and fit into existing team workflows.