Perplexity to add Kimi K2 Thinking model soon

Perplexity is preparing to add support for the Kimi K2 Thinking model, which has drawn attention for its open-source status and performance on par with leading proprietary models. The K2 Thinking model is already being adopted and fine-tuned by various labs, underscoring its flexibility and competitiveness in the current landscape. For Perplexity, integrating Kimi K2 Thinking would echo their prior move with DeepSeek, where the model was hosted within specific jurisdictions, notably the US, enabling a regional data-processing narrative that appeals to users and organizations with strict data residency requirements.

Early traces suggest that Perplexity will offer both the Kimi K2 Thinking and standard versions, allowing users to toggle reasoning capabilities. Although the model briefly appeared in the UI for some users, it was quickly removed, and full access remains pending, though likely imminent.

Recent research published by Perplexity on latency minimization for the Kimi K2 non-thinking variant indicates ongoing…