Perplexity AI launches Comet, an AI browser to take on Google Chrome

Comet browser

Perplexity AI has launched its next major product: Comet, an AI-native web browser designed to serve as a “thought partner and assistant for every aspect of your digital life.”

Available immediately to Perplexity Max subscribers, the browser will roll out more widely through an invite-only model as the company manages a growing waitlist.

Described  by Srinivas, as a fundamental shift from browsing to thinking, Comet aims to rethink how we interact with the internet. “In the last 30 years, the internet has evolved from something we simply ‘browse’ or ‘search.’ The internet is where we live, work, and connect. It’s also where we ask questions,” said Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas in a series of launch posts on social media platform X.

According to Srinivas, at the heart of Comet is an attempt to reduce digital friction. The browser merges tabs, tasks, and tools into a single intelligent interface, allowing users to navigate the web more like a conversation than a clunky stack of hyperlinks, he explained.

Users can ask Comet to schedule meetings, send emails, purchase items, or summarise information based on web activity. It also enables contextual exploration: highlight any text to get instant explanations or dive deeper without losing track of the original thread.

Srinivas frames Comet as a response to cognitive overload: “Context-switching between dozens of applications, sites, and interfaces has stolen the focus and flow that bring joy to our work and fuel our curiosity.” Comet, he says, “transforms entire browsing sessions into single, seamless interactions.”

There’s a philosophical undercurrent in Srinivas’ posts. “The internet has become humanity’s extended mind while our tools for using it remain primitive,” Srinivas wrote. “Our interface for the web should be as fluid and responsive as human thought itself.”

Perplexity plans to evolve Comet rapidly, with new features arriving in tandem with advances in AI. “The future belongs to the people who never stop asking questions,” said Srinivas, pitching Comet as their new browser of choice.