Perplexity Launches AI Browser “Comet”

The browser market has been stable for years, with Google Chrome holding a whopping 68% global share as of June 2025. It’s been the undisputed king of browsers; fast, synced across devices, and deeply integrated into Google’s ecosystem.

But in a bold, well-calculated move, Perplexity has stepped beyond search and into the full browser game, and they’re not coming quietly.

Today, the Nvidia-backed startup unveiled Comet, an AI-native web browser designed to challenge the decades-long reign of Chrome. And let’s be clear: this isn’t just another tabbed interface with a fancier skin. Comet is built from the ground up to be agentic, meaning it doesn’t just help you browse the internet, it actively thinks, acts, and executes tasks on your behalf.

What Makes Comet Different?

Rather than relying on traditional tabs and search bars, Comet introduces a whole new browsing experience with a smart interface powered by AI agents that respond to your goals in real-time. With Comet, users can:

• Ask questions directly and get synthesized answers

• Summarize articles instantly so there’s no need to skim

• Compare products side-by-side, book meetings, manage tasks

• And most importantly, interact with the browser in natural language, not by clicking endless links or switching between tabs

Perplexity is coming to this war with a war chest backed by giants like Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and SoftBank, the company is betting hard on a future where the browser is no longer just a window. Their premium offering, Perplexity Max, costs $200/month and includes early access to Comet. A broader public rollout is expected via invites over the summer.

The Competition Is Growing

Perplexity’s not the only one chasing this vision.

• OpenAI recently added a search experience to ChatGPT, integrating browsing-like capabilities into their chatbot.

• Google responded with AI Overviews, inserting generative summaries into search results. But the rollout has been shaky, with users reporting errors, biases, and confusion.

• Apple has stayed relatively quiet on AI search, and that silence may be starting to cost them. (Remember, Meta just poached Apple’s Head of AI Models in another story we reported earlier.)

Still, Comet is arguably the most radical redesign of web interaction we’ve seen, and that’s exactly why it's shaking up the space.

KINI BIG DEAL (Why Does this matter)

At first glance, this might feel far removed from Lagos, Nairobi, or Johannesburg. After all, Comet costs $200 to get and that makes it luxury tech in regions like ours. However, we need to know that hat this isn't just a new browser, it's a signal of where the internet is heading. Ai is set to become the interface of web browsing, as opposed to just a backend feature. If Perplexity's model works, it could totally redefine how we consume information, automate workflows, and build applications. If we do not prepare and positioning ourselves for it, we risk being flat-footed in the next wave of tech evolution.