Perplexity will be pre-installed on Motorola phones, starting with Razr

A new partnership between Perplexity and Motorola will see the AI “answer engine” app pre-installed on Android phones, starting with the new Razr phones.

In a first, Motorola and Perplexity have reached an agreement which will see Perplexity pre-installed on Motorola smartphones. The Perplexity app for Android supports being a default assistant, but Gemini remains the default on Motorola devices.

Perplexity will be “optimized” for Motorola phones as well, and will support the outer display on Razr devices.

This new partnership begins on the Razr (2025), Razr+ (2025), and Razr Ultra, but it should extend to other Motorola devices in the future. The company tells us that it will make the Perplexity app available to “as many” users “as possible,” though it may not be all of the company’s smartphones.

While Perplexity is seeing prominent placement on Motorola devices, it’s not the only AI brand Motorola has partnered with. As mentioned, there’s still a partnership with Google around Gemini, but Motorola is also working with Meta as a part of its Moto AI suite.

Android VP and GM Seang Chau congratulated Perplexity on the launch yesterday, but pushed back against the idea that Google was stopping “Motorola from installing Perplexity or anyone else as the assistant on their device.”

Motorola alone chose how to set up their device and how they wanted to feature Perplexity with the dedicated hardware button, app icon, etc. And users can easily choose their assistant too. Android is the OS where this is possible!

More on Motorola:

• Motorola Razr Ultra gets 68W charging, three 50MP cameras, Snapdragon 8 Elite for $1,299
• Motorola Razr (2025) and Razr+ launching in May from $699
• Hands-on: Motorola’s new trio of Razr phones are beautiful, if familiar vessels for AI [Gallery]

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