Perplexity Announces "Spaces" and Internal Knowledge Search for Cross-Searching Company Data

On October 17, 2024, Perplexity announced “Internal Knowledge Search,” which lets users search public web information and internal organizational files simultaneously, along with “Spaces,” which allows teams to collaboratively manage research projects. This marked a turning point where Perplexity, once a search tool for individual users, broadened its focus to become a platform embedded in enterprise workflows.

Details

• Internal Knowledge Search: Lets Pro and Enterprise Pro members search across both public web information and internal company documents (research materials, call notes, benefits documents, sales materials, and more) in a single search
• Spaces: A “collaboration hub” that project teams, sales teams, student groups, and others can customize to their needs — allowing invited collaborators, connected internal files, and configuration of which AI model and instructions to use
• Early adopters: NVIDIA, Databricks, Dell, Bridgewater, Latham & Watkins, Fortune, and Lambda were among those participating in early access
• Privacy controls: In addition to granular access permission settings, users can opt out of having their data used for AI training (Enterprise Pro is opted out automatically)
• Planned integrations: Third-party data integrations with services like Crunchbase and FactSet were planned for Enterprise Pro

What happened next

This announcement kicked off Perplexity’s push to strengthen its enterprise business (Enterprise Pro). That December, it acquired Carbon, a company with internal file integration technology, accelerating investment in enterprise features. Alongside Pages, Spaces was a defining feature in Perplexity’s subsequent shift from “search” toward a “collaborative work platform.”