Perplexity builds Teammate AI coding tool to challenge Cursor, Claude Code and OpenAI

Perplexity is quietly building an AI coding tool

Most people know Perplexity as an AI search engine. Behind the scenes, it has quietly built an internal coding tool called "Teammate," and if it ships, the $20bn startup would wade straight into the AI coding wars against Cursor, Anthropic and OpenAI. Perplexity wants a piece of the AI coding boom. The San Francisco search startup has built an internal coding tool, codenamed "Teammate," and may launch it publicly later, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider. Its own engineers have used the tool since May. The company made its name with an AI search engine that takes on Google. A coding product would push it onto very different ground, closer to Cursor, Anthropic and OpenAI. All three already run widely used coding tools. What "Teammate" does Teammate aims to run software projects end to end, according to an internal announcement that Business Insider viewed. "It's built for long-horizon engineering work: owning projects, investigating issues, and monitoring services," the note reads. Screenshots show engineers handing it real jobs, such as hunting bugs in internal systems. The tool stays model-agnostic, the person said, so it does not sit on any single chatbot. That marks a notable choice, while rivals like Claude Code lean on their makers' own models. A Perplexity spokesperson declined to comment, and it remains unclear if or when the product ships. The startup reached a $20bn valuation in a funding round last year, so it has room to experiment. "Stop looking at code" The push comes from the top. A few weeks before Teammate went live internally, chief technology officer Denis Yarats told engineers that by year's end, or sooner, they should "stop looking at code" and simply use AI. It echoes OpenAI's own internal shift to coding agents. Yarats also pushed back on the charge that AI writes "slop," or low-quality code. "Slop is not going to be a thing," he wrote, as long as the generated code passes quality checks. Why it matters The timing raises the stakes. AI coding ranks among the few places where the technology already earns real money, which is why the field has drawn so many well-funded entrants. A model-agnostic tool from a $20bn search company would add a fresh angle to a crowded fight. Two cautions temper it. This report rests on a single source, and Perplexity has not confirmed a launch. But the direction of travel looks clear: even an AI search company now sees writing your code, not just answering your questions, as territory worth taking.

AI Coding War Heats Up as Perplexity Takes on Anthropic's Claude Code

Perplexity could soon become the latest company to join the race for AI coding assistants. According to recent reports, the AI search company is working on a coding tool that could compete with Code and other popular coding platforms. The product has not been officially announced yet, but reports say it is already being tested by Perplexity's own engineers. The timing is not surprising. AI coding tools are becoming more common as developers use them to write code, fix errors, and save time. Companies across the AI industry are trying to build tools that can do much more than answer questions, and Perplexity appears to be taking the same path.

Perplexity working on an AI coding tool to compete with Claude Code: Report

Perplexity may soon expand beyond AI search and enter the AI coding race. The company is reportedly working on a new AI coding tool that could compete with Claude Code and OpenAI's coding assistants. According to Business Insider, the tool is currently being tested inside the company. It has been given the codename "Teammate," and Perplexity engineers have been using it since May. There is no official word yet on whether the company plans to launch it publicly. Teammate is designed to handle complete software projects. According to an internal announcement seen by Business Insider, the tool can manage engineering work from start to finish. "It's built for long-horizon engineering work: owning projects, investigating issues, and monitoring services," the announcement reads. Also read: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked date announced: Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8 and more to expect Engineers at Perplexity have already been using the AI tool for tasks such as finding bugs in the company's internal systems. The report also says that Teammate is model-agnostic. This means it is not tied to a single AI model or chatbot. Perplexity's Chief Technology Officer, Denis Yarats, has reportedly encouraged engineers to rely more on AI while writing software. A few weeks before Teammate was introduced internally, Yarats shared messages saying that by the end of the year, or even sooner, software engineers should "stop looking at code" and just use AI. Also read: Meta launches Muse Image AI with advanced editing, web search and Instagram integration: How it works Yarats also defended the concerns that AI-generated code can sometimes be low quality. "Slop is not going to be a thing" as long as the code it generates passes quality checks, Yarats wrote. Perplexity has not officially announced Teammate or confirmed plans for a public release. However, if the company launches the tool, it would mark a major step beyond its AI search business. It would also put Perplexity in direct competition with companies that are expanding their AI coding platforms. Meanwhile, Perplexity reportedly plans to use Nvidia's new central processing units (CPUs). "Perplexity tested Vera on the agentic work it runs every day. Running a real coding workflow -- cloning a repository and running its test suite in sandboxes -- Vera completed the job about 1.5x faster than x86, and started concurrent sandboxes up to 1.9x faster. Perplexity is now looking to deploy Vera in its upcoming production system," Nvidia said.