Perplexity has become the first artificial intelligence company to earn a FedRAMP “Class C” certification fully compliant with the new FedRAMP Consolidated Rules for 2026 and the sped-up “20x” process, according to several announcements over the past week. “Class C” is most aligned with FedRAMP’s old “moderate” classification and is the most common type in the marketplace. A FedRAMP blog said the milestone “marks the actual beginning of the race to expand the marketplace” and noted it took more than two years after the Office of Management and Budget memo requiring FedRAMP to speed up its processes and “over 17 months from the announcement of the FedRAMP 20x initiative for the first FedRAMP 20x Class A Certification to happen.” There are now seven “Class A” certifications, 12 “Class B” 20x certifications in the pilot phase, including Google Gemini for Government and Flock Safety, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Filevine hold 20x pilot “Class C” certifications along with a dozen others. Nearly 100 products have begun the certification process, including some by Anthropic and Cisco. Perplexity’s new 20x certification allows the General Services Administration and the Department of Agriculture to use the Perplexity Enterprise and API Platf.