Perplexity AI can now act as your personal CFO
What's the story
Perplexity, a start-up led by Aravind Srinivas, has upgraded its AI agent, Perplexity Computer. The enhanced version now offers deeper integration with Plaid, a fintech platform. This means the AI can access your bank account data and track loans. Srinivas even claimed on X that this new feature makes the Perplexity Computer act as your own personal CFO.
AI functionality
Perplexity Computer is an agentic AI
Perplexity Computer is an agentic AI that performs tasks on behalf of users, but unlike OpenClaw, it operates entirely in the cloud. This design is said to be more secure against cyber threats. The AI can comprehend tasks given to it and assign them to different models—like Claude from Anthropic for reasoning and coding, Gemini from Google for research, and OpenAI models for long-context understanding.
AI capabilities
You can now manage your finances on a single dashboard
The latest update lets users connect their savings, credit card, and loan accounts to Perplexity Computer through Plaid's network. Plaid supports over 12,000 financial institutions. The AI agent can then analyze your spending habits, liabilities, and even calculate your net worth on a single dashboard. You can also ask it to build a retirement dashboard based on your finances or set up strategies for debt repayment.
User access
Limitations and future plans
All users can link their accounts via Plaid and access the portfolio page. However, only those with Perplexity Pro and Max subscriptions can use "advanced" Computer workflows. The company has also said it plans to add crypto wallets and real estate assets to this financial management dashboard in the future.