Government-targeted venture by Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI, a leading AI company, is set to launch a government-tailored version of its Perplexity Enterprise Pro on Monday. The new product, dubbed "Perplexity for Government," is designed to provide enhanced security features for federal workers.
Beginning Monday, Perplexity will automatically identify federal networks, ensuring that government users, including those in the military and related domains, are protected. This feature allows agency CIOs, CISOs, and other authorized officials to submit network ranges for explicit coverage if the auto-identification process misses certain networks.
The company is accelerating discussions with federal officials to potentially get its product on the General Services Administration's Multiple Award Schedule. Perplexity is also in active discussions with the General Services Administration to formalize its product offerings in the federal market.
Perplexity's commitment to serving federal workers remains strong, regardless of any mergers and acquisitions involving TikTok, a social media platform the company is reportedly considering buying. The company's interest in working with the government comes as thousands of government workers are already accessing Perplexity's public platforms using .gov or .mil email domains.
The enhanced security aims to protect federal and sensitive information. Perplexity utilizes large language models from other companies for real-time internet searches and presenting summaries to users. However, the company claims to be the only AI company without an "opt-in" security system, implying that their security settings are default for government workers.
The Perplexity Enterprise Pro product will be compliant once FedRAMP approval is received. Federal workers who are logged into a government network or using a federal email domain will have access to enterprise-level security top models from various AI providers.
Perplexity AI is piloting its AI-powered search engine tools in various federal agencies. The company has a 15-month runway with the product, which can begin at any time within the current administration. As of now, there is no publicly available information indicating that any specific German government agency is actively in talks with Perplexity AI about using its products in the federal market.
Other AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Box, and Microsoft, have announced discounted deals with the government. The launch of Perplexity's government-focused product suite adds another player to the growing list of AI companies catering to the federal sector.
