Perplexity has launched Teammates, background AI agents that can monitor connected tools, handle ongoing work and message colleagues in Slack. The research preview is available on the web to individual Max subscribers, with separate workspaces and permissions intended to keep agents reviewable rather than mysterious little co-workers in the machine.
Perplexity Watch analysis
What happened
ShiftDelete.Net reports that each Teammate has its own role and can act when something changes in connected tools, stopping to ask for input when needed. The agents are built from Projects, skills and memory in Perplexity Computer, and can collaborate with one another.
The report says each agent runs on an isolated computer with its own desktop, browser and cookies. Users can review that desktop and take over. Plugins and skills use the user’s permissions, while credentials are encrypted and unavailable to Teammates. Slack channels and project permissions are set separately.
For now, this is a research preview for individual Max subscribers on the web. Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max accounts are not included by default. Teammates draw on the Max plan’s monthly credits, and complex or parallel tasks use more.
Why it matters
This moves Perplexity’s agents from responding to prompts towards watching for work and acting in the background. That could be useful for tasks such as monitoring Slack channels and triaging requests, but access, permissions and credit use will shape whether the promise survives contact with an ordinary workday.
Our read
The useful detail is not simply that these agents can keep going. It is that users can inspect an agent’s workspace and take over, while setting its permissions separately. Those controls deserve as much attention as the autonomy. If you have Max, check the preview’s access and credit terms before setting several agents loose; “always on” is a feature, and potentially a very efficient way to use up a monthly allowance.
What to watch
- Whether Perplexity expands access beyond individual Max subscribers.
- How much credit typical monitoring and parallel tasks consume.
- Whether users find the permission controls and desktop review practical in daily work.
Discussion spark: Would you trust a background agent to monitor workplace tools and message colleagues if you could inspect its workspace and take over, or should that kind of autonomy require approval before every action?
Sources and evidence
- Perplexity Teammates Bring Always-On AI Agents to Max – ShiftDelete.Net (5 November 2026, 19:44 UTC)
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