Perplexity just pulled its boldest move yet in its battle against Google — it launched its own AI-powered web browser.
It’s called Comet, and it’s not just a browser... it’s basically Perplexity’s way of saying, “Why search through Google when we can give you answers and run your whole online life?”
Right now, Comet is invite-only, available first to users on Perplexity’s $200/month Max plan, plus a small group of early access folks. But it’s not just the exclusivity that makes it interesting — it’s what’s baked in.
Front and center is Perplexity’s signature AI search engine, which doesn’t just fetch links— it summarizes the results for you, making the whole traditional Googling experience feel, well, kinda old-school.
But the real star? Comet Assistant — a built-in AI agent that lives right inside your browser. It can:
Summarize your emails and calendar events
Navigate tabs for you like a digital butler
Peek at whatever webpage you're on.
You just slide it open in a sidebar, and boom — instant context, instant answers.
And here’s the wild part: the assistant can even respond to stuff you’re reading on YouTube, social media, or Google Docs. It’s basically like having a very sharp, slightly nosy friend watching your screen and whispering helpful answers as you browse.
BUT… (and it’s a big “but” 👀), there’s a trade-off. To make this work, you’ve gotta give Perplexity a lot of access —we’re talking email, calendar, screen view, contacts… maybe even your hopes and dreams. Unsurprisingly, that’s made some early testers feel a bit uneasy.
Plus, when it comes to simple tasks, Comet Assistant does a solid job. But the second things get even a little complicated — like booking airport parking on specific dates — it starts to crumble.
It tries… but it hallucinates, messes up details, and still tries to push the user through checkout like nothing happened. Let’s just say it’s not quite ready to replace your travel agent yet.
Despite that, Comet feels like a big swing in a space that’s heating up fast. With Google baking more AI into Chrome, OpenAI allegedly cooking up its own browser, and rivals like Dia entering the scene, the browser wars just got a lot more interesting.
But here’s why Comet actually matters:
Perplexity isn’t trying to compete from the sidelines. It’s going all in — browser, AI assistant, AI search — the whole trifecta. The CEO even called it a move toward building “an operating system where you can do almost everything.” Ambitious? Totally. Unrealistic? Maybe not.
Perplexity’s already seeing serious traction — they’ve already hit 780 million queries in May, with 20% month-over-month growth. If even a chunk of those users jump on Comet, things could get interesting.
Bottom line?
Comet feels like a bold first draft of the future. It's not perfect —especially with an assistant that still hallucinates on the job — but it’s clearly pushing the boundaries of what browsers can be.
Whether it actually convinces people to ditch Chrome or Safari is another story.
Here’s a more detailed analysis of Comet.
