Perplexity's Comet AI Browser Launches: What It Can (and Can't) Do for Your Workflow

Perplexity, the popular AI-enabled search engine and chatbot, has launched its new AI-powered web browser, Comet. Unlike other AI-integrated browsers such as Chrome with Gemini and Edge with Copilot, Comet is designed from the ground up to leverage AI to automate tasks and enhance productivity. The browser features an AI assistant called Comet Assistant, which operates in a sidebar and interacts with the content of any active webpage. Comet Assistant can perform a variety of tasks, including answering questions about YouTube videos, analyzing Google Docs, summarizing articles, booking meetings, making purchases, and signing up for services. It is particularly useful for users who manage multiple tabs, as it can pull information from all open tabs to provide comprehensive answers. The assistant draws its responses from Perplexity’s Large Language Model (LLM), known for its accuracy and source citations. However, users should still verify the information, as LLMs can sometimes produce incorrect results. Comet is built on Google's open-source Chromium platform, ensuring compatibility with most Chrome extensions and seamless import of bookmarks and settings. During testing on an Apple 2023 Mac Mini with an M2 processor and 8 GB of RAM running macOS Sequoia 15.5, the setup process was quick and smooth, with existing Chrome data transferring over without issues. However, the browser is currently only available on Mac devices with M processors and is not yet supported on Intel-based Macs or Windows and Linux operating systems. Future updates will expand its availability. To fully utilize Comet, users must subscribe to Perplexity’s Max tier, which costs $200 per month. The browser is being rolled out gradually to those on the waitlist, with invited users receiving a limited number of additional invitations to share. Even without an invitation, the browser can be downloaded on compatible Mac devices, but its functionality will be restricted. Performance tests using Speedometer 3.1, an open-source benchmark for web application responsiveness, showed that Comet scored 29.3 compared to Chrome 138’s 34.3. As a beta program, performance issues are expected, and further optimization will likely improve these scores. One of Comet’s notable shortcomings is its integration with Google services, particularly Gmail and Google Calendar. Despite being built on Chromium, Comet has encountered authentication and synchronization problems with these services. While it can read, summarize, and search through emails and calendar events, it often fails to execute more advanced actions like sending emails or managing calendar invites. These issues stem from Google's security restrictions, which limit the actions third-party tools can perform on a user’s behalf without repeated explicit authorization. Privacy concerns are also a consideration. According to Perplexity’s privacy policy, the company retains a record of user inputs and outputs, including questions, prompts, and content generated through the browser. If users grant access to their Google accounts, any data pulled will also be stored by Perplexity. This data usage is standard in AI applications but may deter privacy-conscious individuals. CEO Aravind Srinivas envisions a bright future for Comet, aiming to disrupt the dominance of legacy browsers like Chrome. He believes that Comet’s AI capabilities will increase user engagement and attract new users tired of traditional browsing experiences. Srinivas highlighted the potential for Comet to generate more queries and interactions per active user, making it a formidable competitor in the AI browser market. Industry insiders are cautiously optimistic about Comet’s potential. While the initial release has some limitations, particularly with Google service integrations and performance, the innovative approach and the backing of a trusted name in AI like Perplexity suggest promising developments. Perplexity’s focus on accuracy and transparency with its LLMs may also differentiate it from its competitors, although the high subscription cost and restricted availability are current hurdles. Despite these challenges, Comet represents a significant step forward in the integration of AI into daily web surfing and productivity tasks.