Perplexity’s AI browser Comet could cut need for extra hires, says CEO Aravind Srinivas

Launched in July this year, the browser was so far only available to waitlisted users and Perplexity Max subscribers. Comet is an LLM-based web browser that comes with an in-built AI agent or assistant which is capable of assisting users with research or any other task by autonomously browsing the web and gathering information.

Comet can also be used to generate summaries of articles and YouTube videos. Users can further ask it to describe an image on their screen or perform deeper research about a particular topic. It is also able to provide AI-generated summaries of all the web pages that feature as open tabs on the browser.

Calling it a “true personal assistant”, Srinivas said that the browser could lead to a boost in productivity that could be worth $10,000 per year for a single person. “It’s truly about delivering value and you being able to delegate tasks to it,” he was quoted as saying.

Since the value of “human digital knowledge work” contributes around $25 trillion to the gross domestic product, a 20 per cent gain in productivity could easily amount to $5 trillion in GDP growth, as per Srinivas.

Srinivas’ remarks on Comet-driven productivity gains come amid an evolving discussion about AI and the future of work, with tech industry leaders themselves split on the issue. While those like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have warned that AI may eliminate 50 per cent of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years, others like Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis believe that AI will bring dramatic advances and a possible future of “radical abundance” despite acknowledged risks.

Others like Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang believe that while AI will inevitably make some jobs obsolete, they will also open up new opportunities much like past technological revolutions have done.
On where AI is headed next, Srinivas said, “It’s not just about answering questions from a sycophant chatbot that tells you good stuff you want to hear. It’s about delivering value and you being able to delegate tasks.”

While the browser is now free to access for both Windows and Mac users, not all Comet features are available to free users. For example, the Email Assistant, which helps users draft replies to emails that match your tone, is currently limited to Max subscribers. Another feature that is available for only paying users is the new “background assistant”, which can perform multiple tasks on your system in the background while you do other work.

“In terms of challenges, it’s mainly the ability to pull context reliably. And security-wise we are very clear that none of the data is violating the SOC 2 compliance, so as a company we are SOC 2 compliant to ensure that all the data is securely stored and logged,” Srinivas said.

Besides Perplexity, several other companies have also been rolling out LLM-based web browsers. The Browser Company unveiled Dia, which is essentially a web browser integrated with an AI chatbot. Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced its web agent called Operator, and Google said it has integrated its Gemini chatbot within the Chrome browser last month.