Perplexity Hits $450M ARR After Agents Pivot
Perplexity's annual recurring revenue crossed $450M in March after a 50% single-month jump driven by its Computer agent platform - not search.
Daniel Okafor
AI Industry & Policy Reporter
Daniel is a tech reporter who covers the business side of artificial intelligence - funding rounds, corporate strategy, regulatory battles, and the power dynamics between the labs racing to build frontier models. Before joining Awesome Agents, he spent four years at Reuters covering the intersection of technology and finance, with a particular focus on how venture capital shapes the AI industry.
He holds a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and a postgraduate diploma in Journalism from City, University of London. His economics training shows in his reporting: he follows the money, reads the filings, and is skeptical of growth narratives that do not come with numbers attached.
At Awesome Agents, Daniel covers AI industry news with an emphasis on deals, policy, competition, and market dynamics. He is especially interested in the geopolitics of AI - export controls, chip restrictions, and the US-China-EU regulatory landscape. His reporting tends to focus on who benefits, who pays, and what the incentives actually are.
Based in London, UK.
Articles by Daniel Okafor
Microsoft Commits $10B to Japan AI Infrastructure
Microsoft pledges $10B to Japan for AI data centers, cybersecurity cooperation, and workforce training from 2026 to 2029, partnering with SoftBank and Sakura Internet.
Databricks CTO Wins ACM Prize, Says AGI Is Already Here
Matei Zaharia wins the 2026 ACM Prize in Computing and claims AGI has arrived, but his own argument - and a $134B company's incentives - complicate the picture.
Eclipse Raises $1.3B to Back and Build Physical AI
Eclipse Ventures closed two funds totaling $1.3B to build and back physical AI companies in robotics, defense, and manufacturing as investor conviction shifts from software to machines.
Anthropic Ships $100M AI Cyber Defense to 12 Rivals
Project Glasswing unites AWS, Apple, Google, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, and seven other organizations with $100M in credits for Anthropic's restricted Mythos Preview model to patch critical infrastructure before attackers catch up.
After Pentagon Feud, UK Woos Anthropic to London
Britain is offering Anthropic a £40M research lab and a dual London Stock Exchange listing after the Pentagon branded the AI company a supply-chain risk.
Meta Closes the Open-Source Door on Frontier AI
Meta's Superintelligence Labs will ship its first flagship models under a closed license, ending the company's open-source-first strategy at the frontier tier.
US AI Labs Share Intel to Stop Chinese Model Theft
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft are now sharing attack detection data through the Frontier Model Forum to collectively block Chinese adversarial distillation campaigns.
OpenAI Calls for Robot Tax and a Public Wealth Fund
OpenAI published a 13-page policy blueprint proposing robot taxes, a public wealth fund for every American, and government-run 4-day workweek pilots as AI reshapes the economy.
Anthropic Revenue Triples to $30B on Enterprise Push
Anthropic's run-rate revenue has surpassed $30 billion in 2026, tripling from $9 billion at end of 2025, as the company secures 3.5 gigawatts of next-gen TPU compute from Broadcom starting in 2027.
Cerebras Launches $2B IPO Roadshow on Nasdaq
Cerebras Systems has kicked off a $2 billion IPO roadshow targeting a Nasdaq listing under ticker CBRS, anchored by a $10 billion compute contract with OpenAI.
Trump DOJ Files Ninth Circuit Appeal in Anthropic Case
The Justice Department is asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse the order that blocked the Pentagon's supply chain risk label on Anthropic and paused Trump's federal ban on Claude.
