‘No shortcuts needed’: Peplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says Chrome’s days may be numbered

Google Chrome

Is Chrome slowly becoming outdated? That’s what Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity AI, seems to suggest in a recent tweet. Responding to a post by Google Chrome that reminded users how to reopen accidentally closed tabs using a keyboard shortcut, Srinivas pointed out that users don’t need to remember such shortcuts anymore—at least not on his platform, Comet.

"On Comet, you can simply ask in English what you want it to reopen specifically. No need to remember fancy shortcuts. Chrome is on its way out," Srinivas tweeted.

Instead of pressing multiple keys or memorizing browser tricks, platforms like Comet aim to let users just ask for what they want—like saying, “Reopen the tab I closed five minutes ago,” and having the browser understand and act.

While Google Chrome remains the most popular browser in the world, it lacks innovations like these at least for now. Comet, backed by Perplexity, is one of the new players trying to change how people interact with the web.

Notably, Srinivas’s tweet comes at a time when several companies are trying to own Google Search and that includes OpenAI, Yahoo and even Perplexity.

Last year, the court found that Google paid companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars to keep Google Search as the default option on their devices. As a result, the DOJ wants Google to be broken up — starting with Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser.

Now, during a fresh round of hearings, it's becoming clear that if Chrome goes up for sale, there will be no shortage of buyers.
According to Bloomberg, Yahoo is very interested. Brian Provost, who heads Yahoo Search, attended the hearing in Washington and said Chrome is "arguably the most important strategic player on the web." He also confirmed that Yahoo, along with its parent company Apollo, would seriously consider buying it.

But Yahoo isn’t alone. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has also shown interest. OpenAI already offers ChatGPT Search, and owning Chrome could give them a huge advantage in competing with Google Search.