One of the most promising artificial intelligence services is getting one of Android's most exciting AI features. Perplexity is currently working on a feature inspired by "Circle to Search," a new feature introduced in January 2024 by Google and Samsung. This feature, available on select Android smartphone models, allows users to select an element on the screen (text, image, video) with a circle or highlight gesture to obtain additional information.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas confirmed the news on social network X. "Circle to search. Coming soon to all Perplexity users on Android," he explains, supporting his announcement with a short demo video.
A more advanced feature, inspired by two Google functions
In the demo, a user interacts with Perplexity on the theme of the greatest tennis players of all time. He then circles the name Roger Federer and asks the AI what "this player's net worth" is. Perplexity identifies the topic, launches an online search, and provides an answer in about 12 seconds—a longer response time than Google's, but with similar information.
The functionality is partly reminiscent of Google's feature, which uses Google Search, but not only that. It also draws inspiration from Gemini Live's latest feature, which allows AI to see your screen, thus combining elements of two separate Google technologies.
Perplexity primarily uses its own AI to generate answers rather than that of its American competitor. Aravind Srinivas does not specify when this new feature will be available. will be available and it is not yet possible to test it in the application.
The big difference is that Perplexity's version uses its own AI to generate answers rather than that of its American competitor. Aravind Srinivas does not specify when this new feature will be available and it is not yet possible to test it in the application. Note that Perplexity will probably have to rename its functionality, as Google has filed a trademark the name "Circle to Search".
Perplexity, the ambitious rising star of AI
This short demonstration demonstrates the potential of such a feature in Perplexity, especially since it would not be limited to a handful of devices. Google reserves "Circle to Search" for recent models and its screen sharing function for paying Gemini subscribers. Conversely, its competitor mentions availability for all users on Android, including potentially on older devices. This would also confirm that the startup, which combines a search engine and a chatbot, represents a significant threat to Google.
In addition to its hybrid approach, Perplexity is also working on a web browser, Comet, to compete with Chrome. The company has experienced explosive growth, processing more than 100 million queries per week since October 2024 and seeing its valuation climb to around $9 billion. In February 2025, Perplexity also launched an in-depth search tool, demonstrating its desire to continue growing and its ambition to compete with the tech giants.
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