Perplexity Launching AI Browser

Perplexity is launching a new AI-powered browser called Comet.

The core thesis is that Google has ruined everything.

Twenty-five years ago there were no ads in search results, so the search engine with the best answer got the most visitors.

That’s how 谷歌 conquered the market.

Unfortunately, the second phase of any business after capturing market share is monetization.

Now, you see loads of ads all over the search results and even “organic” results are there because of some form of investment.

Give Them What They Want

Let’s start with a simple question.

How much would you pay to have a good Internet experience?

To never see an ad, receive a spam email, or click on a bogus search result?

What if you got the correct answer…every time you asked a question?

Perplexity aims to reinvent the browser in the same way that it did search.

Now that they have gone after Google search…they are going after Chrome.

Will History Repeat Itself

Before we get too excited about this development there are a few critical things to remember.

Google used to be ad-free as well.

Perplexity is in the market share phase of growth, rather than monetization.

The whole world could switch over to their new Comet browser, only for the other shoe to drop.

They want to run just as many ads.

They promise they won’t.

But Google also used to have the motto “Do No Evil.”

But then they took the sign down…

The Power of Agentic Search

Two people who type in the same search aren’t always looking for the same results.

If a carnivore and a vegan search for “local restaurants” they want completely different options in their search results.

Right now search is only one step in a process.

My kids need to go to the dentist today.

I type into a search engine “nearest dentist” and see a list of results on the map.

I then have to look at each result, read some reviews, check the open hours and then start calling to make an appointment.

I’ve called many a dentist and doctor only to discover that they aren’t taking new patients right now.

Then I need to make an appointment and add it to my calendar.

This is a multi-step process where search is only one of the steps in the process.

Agentic Search from Perplexity

Perplexity is building a new agentic browser from the ground up.

Rather than simply perform information retrieval, this browser will complete the entire process.

It will autonomously complete a complex task.

I tell the browser that I need to make an appointment for my kids at a new dentist and the confirmed appointment appears on my calendar.

This is what we all envision in a science fiction future…and it is about to arrive.

Comet will autonomously execute complex tasks, such as booking flights or managing reservations.

Imagine a world where you never have to sit on hold ever again.

How An Agentic Browser Works

Comet uses a three-step process to deliver on this promise.

1. Intent Recognition: Natural language queries are parsed and categorized.
2. Web Environment Simulation: For transactional tasks, Comet uses a headless browser instance to interact with websites.
3. Action Validation: Before executing irreversible actions, the browser generates synthetic scenarios to predict outcomes and provides explainable AI visualizations to users.

This advanced system allows Comet to process and act on information more efficiently, potentially saving users significant time.

One thing that I’ve seen in my work as an AI Consultant is how people skip over validation.

We get lazy.

The AI was right the last nine times, so why am I still checking its work?

And that’s the one time you end up on a flight to Auckland instead of Oakland.

Build in Automation of Repetitive Tasks

We spend most of our time completing repetitive tasks.

• Copy and pasting the same boxes from one application to another
• Adding a border to an image or converting it from png to jpg
• Organizing emails into the correct folder

What if you can get all of that repetitive time back.

Right now you have to use another tool in combination with your browser.

This is the promise of AI, but it hasn’t yet come true for everyone.

Comet advanced AI algorithms to offload routine and repetitive tasks, allowing users to focus on more critical objectives.?

Key automation capabilities include:

• Automated scheduling and data entry
• Document summarization and analysis
• Personalized content recommendations
• Predictive search results
• Real-time captions and advanced text-to-speech capabilities

Getting good content recommendations seems to be a real challenge for most of the platforms that I engage with.

Amazon constantly recommends books in genres that I never read.

I usually have to search for the movies I want to watch by name on Netflix.

And I can’t remember the last time the first result in a Google search was the one I was looking for.

If Comet can pull this promise of increased productivity off, it could capture some real market share.

Chrome by Any Other Name

Most browsers are built on top of Chromium, which is a Google framework and Comet will be no different.

This has the advantage that all your favorite plugins will still work.

This also has the disadvantage that Google will be able to see everything.

All of those privacy concerns are still there.

Can you really build a competitor to someone using their own framework?

Google is in a race to add AI functions to their own tools and have finally started to turn things around with NotebookLM and Gemini Coding.

Perplexity has a long mountain to climb.

As a user of the paid version of Perplexity, I’m a believer in the platform.

But getting people to change browsers is HARD.

Jonathan Green

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