At first, it was all about making the best AI chatbot, but now, things have shifted. After that, we saw several companies focus on bringing the best AI search engine. Well, the next major frontier in AI technology will be the AI browser. In fact, a few companies want to bring their browsers to the market at some point in time. Perplexity has an AI-powered browser in the works, and it could revolutionize that whole market, leaving Google and Microsoft in the dust.
In case you don’t know, Perplexity is an AI company based in Las Angeles, California. Its primary product is an AI-powered search engine. Along with that, it has a deep research tool. It’s made a name for itself among the other AI companies out there, and we don’t see it slowing down soon. Along with its search engine, the company recently posted a short teaser for its browser called Comet. At this point, we don’t know how far into production the browser is. Perplexity didn’t give away too much information.
The only other company that announced plans to launch an AI browser is OpenAI. However, when it first announced this, it was in a very early planning stage. It was in the process of partnering with companies, so there’s no telling if the company has any actual code down for it. Of the two, it seems like Perplexity will be the first one to bring a browser into the world.
Perplexity’s AI browser could revolutionize the browser space
Older companies like Google and Microsoft have plenty of funds to spend on injecting AI into their existing platforms. However, there’s a problem. Generative AI is still a relatively new thing compared to Windows and Android. These companies are working to add AI into their platforms retroactively, which is a difficult task. Adding AI deeply into a platform that’s been in development for over a decade without completely breaking it is like pulling teeth.
This also goes for each of these companies’ respective browsers. Chrome and Edge are pretty old programs at this point, and thus, they weren’t built with AI in mind. However, the companies promise us the moon and the stars when they launch new AI features. But, it might not be the megacorporations that deliver us the game-changing AI browser experience. It might be a smaller company.
Perplexity is far from Google’s or Microsoft’s status, but the company has a blank canvas right in front of it. It has the ability to build a browser from the ground up for AI. It won’t need to weave through millions of lines of established code to add features. This is crucial, as companies like Apple and Amazon are struggling to revamp their respective voice assistants because of this. They have a ton of code to change along with new code to add.
It’s like modernizing a 19th-century home to accommodate a 21st-century family rather than building a new one with modern technology in mind. Which one would you like to set up your smart home in?
Delivering what the big boys can’t
So far, Google has been slowly adding features to Chrome to make it more AI-friendly, but we haven’t gotten anything that would be considered game-changing. There’s nothing that makes us say “Chrome is THE definitive AI browser!” For instance, there’s one feature advertised that would allow us to search through our history using natural language rather than using keywords. That feature hasn’t come out yet, and it could be a boon for Google.
Obviously, that’s not a dig at the search giant. Who knows how much code the company has to go through just to add that feature? A fresh start could be the thing to bring that and other innovative features to the market. Perplexity already knows what it takes to make a developed AI platform, so it knows what sort of features people like to use. It could more than likely implement those features and some others that larger companies promise.
There’s just no way that Google and Microsoft are going to develop new browsers from the ground up. Even though they’ll be able to market them to their audiences, it’ll probably take years for their new browsers to reach a reasonable number of users. The best that they can do is add as many new features to their existing browsers.
Simplicity for the win
Perplexity’s Comet won’t be as complex as Chrome or Edge. Both of these browsers have been around for years, and there are a ton of people working on several features at the same time. We’re talking about both AI-driven and non-AI-driven features. It has to be this way if they want to keep them running.
Perplexity’s Comet will be a much younger platform, so we know that it won’t be as complex. As such, we expect the company to be more focused on the features that matter the most.
The overall impact
No company has brought a true AI-powered browser experience yet. The firms with enough money to build the best browsers have their hands full at the moment, so it’s up to the little guys. However, the little guys don’t have as many resources. Companies like Perplexity and OpenAI will be among the first wave to bring AI browsers.
When true AI browsers start to hit the market, we’re sure that we’ll see a pretty large shift in how we use our browsers. Internet browsers are many people’s portal to the internet, and they rely on the features and tools to make the overall experience streamlined. However, with the advent of generative AI, the possibilities are endless. Companies are working on tools that can browse the internet on your behalf, read your screen, give you feedback on what you’re doing, search through your history, and so much more.
We’re in for a new age in agentic and intuitive web browsing. It might be possible for you to open the browser, type a simple prompt, and have all of your browsing done for you. Who knows if you’ll have your favorite sites pop up for you the moment you open the browser?
We use browsers for studying and research. Well, what if there’s a browser that can scour the internet and find the information for you? How about one that can generate images for you to use for all of your favorite social media sites without you needing to go to a specific site? There’s also the feature that can let you type a prompt to have it find a web page you visited before.
We don’t know what ingenious capabilities a company could squeeze into its browser!
Integration
That being said, those are just features. If our new AI age was just about a torrent of features, then we’re in it. However, that’s not the case. AI is all about making life easier (whether for good reasons or… well, laziness). Making life easier involves making an entire experience more intuitive and streamlined. This means that the browsing experience will need to be revamped from start to finish.
A browser built from the ground up for AI will be much better than an existing browser with a bunch of features thrown at it. This is why Perplexity’s Comet has the possibility to revolutionize the browser space.
Using the experience it’s gained as an AI company to create a well-integrated browser, it will bring forth a new age in browsing. Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge might be the kings of traditional browsing, but times are changing, and they’ll be playing catch-up before too long.
2025-02-27 15:09:24