#Saas

The Middleware Trap: Why Perplexity’s Best Product is Also its Biggest Risk

The February 2026 launch of Perplexity Computer represents a masterclass in multi-model orchestration, yet it exposes a growing structural crisis in the AI industry. As hyperscalers like Google and OpenAI collapse the stack to capture "trillions of tokens," middleware companies find themselves squeezed between the models they rent and the customers they don't yet own. This analysis explores the "Middleware Trap," the hunt for durable market positions, and why execution alone is no longer enough to survive the AI consolidation of 2026.