GSA inks first direct AI deal under OneGov, bringing Perplexity to every federal agency
The General Services Administration has finalized a first-of-its-kind agreement with Perplexity AI, making the tool available to all federal agencies for 25 cents each. It's the 21st contract under the OneGov initiative and a shift from reseller-driven purchasing to a direct model.
Perplexity's service gives federal workers real-time answers that blend internet-scale knowledge with connections to government technology systems. According to GSA's Federal Acquisition Service commissioner, Josh Gruenbaum, this type of deal is essential for integrating AI into federal work.
Perplexity's leadership says the federal government's growing use of AI will push both adoption and capability forward. The company sees itself as a natural partner for agencies looking to increase output without adding headcount.
What this means for federal teams
- Faster research and drafting for memos, briefings, and reports.
- Time savings on contract and lease writing, market scans, and policy reviews.
- Consistent access across agencies due to a direct-to-consumer approach, reducing reseller costs and friction.
- Broader AI adoption that can inform future federal requirements and best practices.
Key quotes
"This deal provides federal workers with an extremely powerful multi-model research tool which will enable them to increase efficiency and save time on work such as critical research projects, memos, contract and lease writing," said Gruenbaum.
"As the federal government expands its use of AI, the government itself will innovate more and its needs from the leading edge of AI will only increase," said Jerry Ma, Perplexity's vice president of policy.
Immediate use cases to pilot
- Policy scans and citations for memos, RFIs, and concept notes.
- Summarizing long dockets, meeting notes, and stakeholder comments.
- Drafting acquisition artifacts: market research summaries, SOW/SSPs outlines, and Q&As.
- Creating first drafts for program FAQs, correspondence, and public-facing explainers with sources.
Security, compliance, and guardrails
Perplexity reports meeting government-grade security requirements, and agencies should still run standard reviews. Coordinate with your CIO/CISO before rollout to validate data handling, SSO options, network egress rules, and records retention.
- Request the latest security package and confirm FedRAMP status or equivalent controls.
- Disable training on agency prompts and outputs where required; confirm data retention settings.
- Enable audit logs and define approved use cases; include a human-in-the-loop for sensitive outputs.
- Map usage to FOIA, records management, and Section 508 obligations.
Access and procurement
This agreement is part of the OneGov initiative and, notably, is direct-to-consumer instead of through resellers. That structure aims to streamline ordering and reduce overhead.
- Check with your acquisition office for the ordering channel, period of performance, and any seat or usage caps.
- Launch a 30-60 day pilot with a small cross-functional team; track time saved and error rates.
- Standardize prompt templates for common tasks (memos, market research, contract drafting).
- Document wins, risks, and required controls to inform a wider rollout.
Pricing clarity
The deal is priced at 25 cents each. Confirm with your procurement lead what "each" covers for your agency, how billing works, and any thresholds that trigger additional approvals.
Related agreements
GSA has made similar arrangements with other AI providers, including OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, and Google's Gemini, under the Trump administration's OneGov initiative. Agencies can compare capabilities, security postures, and cost structures across these options.
Get started this week
- Pick 2-3 workflows where staff spend hours each week on research or drafting.
- Create simple prompt templates and citation requirements for those workflows.
- Set up a review step for any external-facing content.
- Measure time saved, output quality, and issue types; feed results back to your governance team.
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