Perplexity Outshines Competitors with Free AI Research Tool

Perplexity introduces a groundbreaking AI tool, Deep Research, offering free detailed reports based on web searches, challenging paid services from Gemini and ChatGPT.

Ever wished you could just tell a chatbot to do all your research for you? Well, now you can. While Gemini and ChatGPT will charge you a monthly fee for the privilege, Perplexity says, ‘Hold my beer,’ and offers it for free—though, yeah, there’s a daily cap. This game-changing feature, known as Deep Research, is shaking things up in the AI world.

Think of Deep Research as your overachieving intern who actually does the work. It takes the grunt work out of finding sources and taking notes, handing you a neat little report instead. And here’s the kicker: despite the hefty computing power needed, Perplexity lets subscribers ask away to their heart’s content. Free users? They get a taste, but with limits.

Perplexity boasts that this tool isn’t just smart; it’s ‘I aced my PhD’ smart, tackling complex tasks in finance, marketing, and product research with ease. It even nails the Humanity’s Last Exam benchmark, whatever that is. Starting on the web, it’s soon to hit Android and iOS, because why should desktop users have all the fun?

Starting a Deep Research query is as easy as picking ‘Deep Research’ from a menu. Once it’s done, you can export it as a doc or PDF, or turn it into a Perplexity Page to show off. Perplexity claims this isn’t just keeping up with Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s models—it’s outrunning them in some areas.

In a move that’s got everyone talking, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, just announced that free ChatGPT users will get two Deep Research queries a month, with Plus users getting ten. It’s clear: the race to build the ultimate AI research assistant is on, and it’s getting spicy.