Perplexity AI launches free Comet browser globally

Aravind Srinivas, chief executive officer Perplexity AI, during a news conference at the SK Telecom Co. headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, Sept.4, 2024. (SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images)

Perplexity AI has announced the global rollout of its AI-powered Comet browser as a free service, marking a significant shift from its initial $200/month subscription model launched in July.

Key Features:

• Acts as a personal assistant for web searching, tab organization, email drafting, and shopping
• Waitlist grew to "millions" during paid beta phase
• Designed to compete with rivals like Google's Gemini, Anthropic's browser agent, and OpenAI's Operator

Strategic Moves:

• Perplexity previously made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Google's Chrome browser
• Company introduced Comet Plus subscription in August featuring content from premium publishers
• Partnerships established with CNN, Condé Nast, The Washington Post, and other major media outlets

Future Developments:

• Mobile version of Comet in development
• New Background Assistant feature teased for multitasking capabilities

Context:

The move comes amid growing competition in AI-powered browsing:

• Google integrated Gemini into Chrome (read more)
• Anthropic launched browser-based AI agent
• OpenAI released Operator task-completion agent

Perplexity, valued at $20B (watch coverage), gained fame for its AI search engine but faced plagiarism accusations last year, leading to publisher revenue-sharing agreements.

For real-time coverage: Tune in Friday at 8:10 a.m. ET as CEO Aravind Srinivas discusses the launch on CNBC (watch live).