Perplexity AI, the NVIDIA-backed startup renowned for its AI-powered search engine, has launched “Comet,” an innovative web browser designed to fundamentally transform how users interact with the internet. Unlike traditional browsers such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox, Comet is built with AI at its core, aiming to move beyond passive navigation to a more cognitive and interactive experience.
At the heart of Comet is Perplexity’s AI search engine, which serves as the default, offering concise, AI-generated overviews of search queries. However, Comet’s ambitions extend far beyond just search. The browser integrates a powerful “Comet Assistant,” an AI agent that resides in a sidebar and can understand and analyze the content of any active webpage. This enables users to perform a wide range of tasks directly within the browser, from summarizing articles and YouTube videos to answering questions about specific content, comparing products across different sites, and even automating complex workflows like booking meetings or sending emails based on webpage information.
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas describes Comet as a “cognitive operating system” that aims to collapse complex workflows into fluid conversations, eliminating the need to constantly switch between tabs and applications. Instead of a traditional tabbed interface, Comet features a “workspace” where information is organized and easily accessible, tracking what a user is working on, suggesting related content, and even closing inactive tabs or providing reminders from previous sessions.
Built on the Chromium open-source framework, Comet ensures compatibility with existing Chrome extensions and allows for seamless migration of bookmarks and settings. This foundation also contributes to broad website compatibility, minimizing rendering issues.
Comet is currently available to subscribers of the newly launched Perplexity Max tier, priced at $200 per month, with a broader rollout planned for users on the waitlist over the summer. While this initial exclusivity targets users who heavily rely on the internet for work and research, Perplexity intends to make the browser more widely accessible in the future.
The launch of Comet signifies a bold move by Perplexity to challenge the dominance of established browsers and search engines, offering a glimpse into a future where AI is not just an add-on but an integral part of the Browse experience, acting as a personal thought partner and assistant. This also positions Perplexity in a growing space, with OpenAI also reportedly working on its own AI-powered browser.
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