GSA, Perplexity ink first direct-to-government OneGov deal

The General Services Administration on Wednesday announced its first direct OneGov agreement with frontier AI firm Perplexity that will significantly discount its enterprise-grade AI capabilities for federal agencies.

Through the first-of-its-kind agreement, users across federal agencies can access Perplexity Enterprise Pro for Government for $0.25 per agency over an 18-month term through a direct contract on GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule.

Perplexity’s deal with GSA is unique among the more than one dozen prior OneGov agreements GSA has struck with leading tech firms. Perplexity’s position on the GSA MAS IT Schedule now allows it to sell directly to government customers without a reseller or third party, in line with both the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan and its OneGov strategy, which calls for “deeper, direct engagement with OEMs” to streamline acquisition and reduce costs.

“Access to cutting-edge AI models is essential for integrating AI into federal government operations and modernizing inefficient processes, aligning with the White House’s AI Action Plan,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum. “This OneGov agreement, directly with Perplexity, offers the federal government an additional pathway to leverage the transformative advantages of AI.”

Perplexity’s AI-powered search platform has grown in popularity throughout 2025, delivering cited answers to queries in real-time to more than 30 million monthly users. In September, the company announced Perplexity Pro for Government to meet growing demand from government users and the Trump administration, which has pushed agencies to rapidly and securely adopt leading AI capabilities. 

According to Beejoli Shah, a spokesperson for Perplexity, usage of the company’s Pro for Government offering actually increased among all agencies during the 43-day government shutdown, suggesting its growing importance as a tool among agencies. 

The company’s latest Enterprise Pro plan allows users to ask questions against other leading AI models — including from Anthropic and OpenAI — within Perplexity, to cast a wide net in search of verifiable, accurate responses to queries. It also offers a variety of enhanced security features that are especially important to government customers. 

“Accurate AI serves America,” Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, said in a statement. “We’re proud to support President Trump’s AI Action Plan by giving federal employees cited, verifiable answers across every major AI model, arming public servants to make highly informed decisions that serve the American people.”

To ensure the utmost speed to the government market and land on the MAS IT schedule, Perplexity purposely participated in FedRAMP’s 20x pilot — which accelerates security authorizations for AI and cloud services — and met established criteria from GSA to have its enterprise platform designated for AI prioritization.

“This Administration has made clear that agencies should have the best of American AI not in 2028, 2027, or 2026 — but right now, in 2025,” Jerry Ma, vice president of policy and global affairs and deputy CTO at Perplexity, said in a statement. “We are proud to meet their ambition by making Perplexity available for 25 cents per agency in partnership with GSA, providing the first multi-model AI platform tailored to the needs of those who serve America.”