AI-powered search engine Perplexity has unveiled its latest innovation, Perplexity Assistant, a multimodal tool designed to streamline daily tasks for Android users. Available as of Thursday, the assistant leverages Perplexity's search engine capabilities, reasoning, and app integration to perform a range of tasks, from hailing a ride to searching for a song.

One of the key features of Perplexity Assistant is its ability to take "multi-app actions," allowing users to accomplish complex tasks without having to switch between multiple apps. For instance, the assistant can remind users of an event by finding the right date and time and creating a calendar entry, thanks to its access to the web through Perplexity's search engine.

Perplexity Assistant also boasts multimodal capabilities, enabling it to use the phone's camera to answer questions about the user's surroundings or on-screen content. Furthermore, the assistant maintains context from one action to another, allowing users to seamlessly research restaurants in their area and reserve a table automatically.

The launch of Perplexity Assistant marks a significant transition for the company, shifting its focus from being an "answer engine" to a natively integrated assistant that can interact with other apps and perform basic tasks for users. According to Aravind Srinivas, the assistant will be available for free to Perplexity users in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Hindi.

However, the launch of Perplexity Assistant has been met with skepticism by some, given the company's history of launching half-baked products. For example, Perplexity's shopping feature, designed to let users place an order without visiting a retailer's website, was found to be slow and error-prone during testing. Srinivas acknowledged that some Perplexity Assistant actions "might not always work," but assured that the company plans to address these issues over the next few months.

The launch of Perplexity Assistant comes on the heels of the company's recent rollout of Sonar, an API service that enables enterprises and developers to integrate Perplexity's generative AI search tools into their own applications. Additionally, Perplexity acquired a social media platform for professionals called Read.cv. Founded in 2022, Perplexity has reportedly raised over $500 million in capital from venture capitalists and is valued at $9 billion.

As Perplexity continues to expand its product offerings and capabilities, it remains to be seen whether the company can overcome its past mistakes and deliver a seamless, reliable experience for users. The success of Perplexity Assistant will likely depend on the company's ability to address its technical issues and provide a robust, user-friendly platform that can compete with established players in the AI assistant market.