Perplexity launches Comet, an AI-powered web browser(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Perplexity launches Comet, an AI-powered web browser
https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/09/perplexity-launches-comet-an-ai-powered-web-browser/
76 comments
Wow, $200/month for the privilege of being monetized and tracked even more closely than Chrome does. Sounds like a real winner.
if you want an open-source, privacy-first option -- check out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523409 :)
We just launched an open-source alternative -- you can download today; use local LLMs with ollama and not pay $200/month.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523409
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523409
Whats the outlook for Linux with that
[deleted]
Can't say I have much trust in any of these recent AI company launched browsers.
They have a proven track record of not respecting people's data...
They have a proven track record of not respecting people's data...
I very rarely diss other people’s work, but Arc/Dia is a perfect example of that. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothes, without any clarity regarding their business model.
Not sure if it's the perfect example. Pretty sure Arc was shady before it had any AI stuff.
Could you elaborate?
Dunno about shady but it's surprises me anyone uses it after this
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/20/24249919/arc-browser-boos...
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/20/24249919/arc-browser-boos...
Recent and related:
Perplexity Comet - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44513769 - July 2025 (52 comments)
Comet Browser by Perplexity - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44511527 - July 2025 (14 comments)
Perplexity Comet - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44513769 - July 2025 (52 comments)
Comet Browser by Perplexity - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44511527 - July 2025 (14 comments)
I've always wanted a browser with a subscription fee
don't let your dreams be dreams
https://www.aol.com/products/browsers/desktop-gold
https://www.aol.com/products/browsers/desktop-gold
I wonder how many people pay that just for the nostalgia. Do they have the "you have email" voice?
I see multiple comments decrying the browser price.
Have we collectively forgotten how to read?
The browser is not $200/mo. It's available for free to those on the Max plan now, and will be rolling out to other plans.
I imagine users on all those plans get some value out of Perplexity other than the browser.
Have we collectively forgotten how to read?
The browser is not $200/mo. It's available for free to those on the Max plan now, and will be rolling out to other plans.
I imagine users on all those plans get some value out of Perplexity other than the browser.
Comet, you say?
Free slogan, courtesy of Joe MacMillan: “Search it, find it, comet”
:)
Free slogan, courtesy of Joe MacMillan: “Search it, find it, comet”
:)
Use case for LLM-infested Chromium wrapper?
Track everything users do and sell the data.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523226
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523226
Videos from Perplexity as well as YouTubers show what it's supposed to do: provide you an interface to simplify your research, evaluation, and execution of written instruction.
For example: you're supposed to tell it to do something like, "plan my week for me including make me a menu plan, setup a grocery list and add everything I need to it, shop the list and allow me to pick it up on Sunday afternoon, and, in the meantime, plan for me 2 days of things to do." And supposedly, it will do all of these things for you automatically. I haven't tested it, but it basically this is intended to do all the things we've hoped AI would help us do--automatically. Will it be successful? Probably a bit better than we've come to expect, but it's nothing like we have built up in our minds.
AI has been game changing for me in my work life, but I have yet to find it useful for things like I laid out above. Maybe that's changing and this is the first step toward that future.
For example: you're supposed to tell it to do something like, "plan my week for me including make me a menu plan, setup a grocery list and add everything I need to it, shop the list and allow me to pick it up on Sunday afternoon, and, in the meantime, plan for me 2 days of things to do." And supposedly, it will do all of these things for you automatically. I haven't tested it, but it basically this is intended to do all the things we've hoped AI would help us do--automatically. Will it be successful? Probably a bit better than we've come to expect, but it's nothing like we have built up in our minds.
AI has been game changing for me in my work life, but I have yet to find it useful for things like I laid out above. Maybe that's changing and this is the first step toward that future.
Perplexing indeed.
Right after the "launch", most of the people that are praising the browser are either employees, paid influencers or fans of the CEO.
I am yet to see a normal "non-tech" person use Perplexity after being a longtime ChatGPT user.
I am yet to see a normal "non-tech" person use Perplexity after being a longtime ChatGPT user.
How do we know it isn't just Vomet making comments about itself?
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So... The main feature is the homepage setting and an AI tag that everyone else has had doe months?
IMO this is not a true launch, just a beta only available to those who pay top dollar.
Maybe off-topic, but there are lots of rumors flying - will Apple acquire Perplexity?
Apple should acquire Perplexity - it's a pretty great product and combined with some privacy enhancements it's a win, and they could likely integrate it better than Google could with Gemini.
> it's a pretty great product
Is it?
I was gifted a pro subscription for a year and after trying it for a few weeks I instead signed up for an Anthropic Claude subscription (which I pay $20 / month for) and I use that all the time.
What am I missing about Perplexity?
Is it?
I was gifted a pro subscription for a year and after trying it for a few weeks I instead signed up for an Anthropic Claude subscription (which I pay $20 / month for) and I use that all the time.
What am I missing about Perplexity?
I signed up and I no longer use most other websites. I only use Kagi for basic searches, where I want to get to a destination and not get information.
Perplexity “does the googling for me” and summarizes or seeks for me. No more skimming and synthesizing. No more crafting search queries and comparing. Ask a question, no matter how obscure or specific, and it fetches the real time answer.
Honestly not much has ever so drastically changed how I use the internet.
Perplexity “does the googling for me” and summarizes or seeks for me. No more skimming and synthesizing. No more crafting search queries and comparing. Ask a question, no matter how obscure or specific, and it fetches the real time answer.
Honestly not much has ever so drastically changed how I use the internet.
As a cultural synthesizer ("create a sketch...") or translator (i.e., from human to programming) perplexity is as good as the others and maybe worse. But I like it as being an alternative semantic web search engine. Search engine because most of the time the facts are referenced at the end of the paragraphs and when it fails to insert them, I usually ask to expand. It's a new feeling after all those years of PageRank dominance. For example, It sometimes creates a paragraph with a reference to some recent research that according to the PageRank logic should be at the bottom (because almost nobody cites it). It's like the relevance was reborn. Once it was in a primitive sense of the early AltaVista, then Google killed it with PageRank, now when an engine really understands the question, the answers might become relevant in a new sense while being tangential to the reputations of the sources
+1, I bought perplexity pro annual subscription last year, and hardly use it now.
chatGPT+o3 search is much better.
My typical workflow is fire the question to Google AI mode and chatGPT+o3 at the same -- AI mode is fast but meh answer, chatGPT is slower but pretty good answer always.
chatGPT+o3 search is much better.
My typical workflow is fire the question to Google AI mode and chatGPT+o3 at the same -- AI mode is fast but meh answer, chatGPT is slower but pretty good answer always.
As I understand it they don't even make any competitive foundational models themselves? Isn't that the kind of talent Apple is after?
Even if apple buys, would they kill Safari? I don't think so -- comet will have to die in that case.
Not just Perplexity but Anthropic as well, which would my preference.
Is Apple supposed to be one of the kind and benevolent megacorporations?
No public company can be "benevolent"
Apple still makes 10s of billions a year letting Google be the default search, they have a vested interest in maintaining that revenue.
Plus whatever "values" they have will go right out the window if the golden iphone shaped Goose ever stumbles.
Apple still makes 10s of billions a year letting Google be the default search, they have a vested interest in maintaining that revenue.
Plus whatever "values" they have will go right out the window if the golden iphone shaped Goose ever stumbles.
Plus Apple and Anthropic appear to be collaborating [1].
[1]: "Apple Partners With Anthropic for Claude-Powered AI Coding Platform" -- https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/02/apple-anthropic-ai-codi...
[1]: "Apple Partners With Anthropic for Claude-Powered AI Coding Platform" -- https://www.macrumors.com/2025/05/02/apple-anthropic-ai-codi...
I would assume basic functionality would be included but advanced functionality would require a subscription to Apple One (or whatever it's called now).
So I wouldn't describe them as kind and benevolent, more that they want to make products people will pay for.
So I wouldn't describe them as kind and benevolent, more that they want to make products people will pay for.
To the degree that it matters, I believe Apple and Anthropic values are more in alignment than say, Apple and OpenAI.
If you like Anthropic's models shouldn't Apple buying them be something you don't want to happen?
Is Apple gonna want to be in the coding model in a dropdown in Cursor business? Not too sure they're interested in that.
Is Apple gonna want to be in the coding model in a dropdown in Cursor business? Not too sure they're interested in that.
Would I prefer Anthropic to stay independent and go on to be a real alternative to Google, Microsoft and xAI? Certainly.
While I don't believe Apple wants to be in all of Anthropic's current businesses, the crown jewels are the models and employees, which is want they want.
While I don't believe Apple wants to be in all of Anthropic's current businesses, the crown jewels are the models and employees, which is want they want.
We do not need any more big-tech concentration than we already have, rather less.
Imagine paying $200/mo for this privacy nightmare
<< At launch, Comet will be available first to subscribers of Perplexity’s $200-per-month Max plan, as well as a small group of invitees that signed up to a waitlist.
Boy i already pay Anthropic that. Now i should pay another 200 bucks to use an ai browser? On top of all these ai saas that want another 20 bucks.
Boy i already pay Anthropic that. Now i should pay another 200 bucks to use an ai browser? On top of all these ai saas that want another 20 bucks.
Perplexity CEO says its browser will track everything users do online to sell ‘hyper personalized’ ads
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/perplexity-ceo-says-its-br...
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/perplexity-ceo-says-its-br...
A web browser which tracks everything you do and you have to pay for the privilege…
It's kind of wild how the west draws this distinction:
If China does it while being responsible and taking into account cost/benefits on overall human well being, it's Creepy Big Brother Communism.
If the US does it and charges money for it (or makes it 'free' by selling your personal info to untrustworthy companies / selling you junk you don't need) it's an innovative futuristic privilege.
Cold War propaganda was incredibly effective through generations.
edit: changed "If China does it for free" to "If China does it" since it had some distracting assumptions
If China does it while being responsible and taking into account cost/benefits on overall human well being, it's Creepy Big Brother Communism.
If the US does it and charges money for it (or makes it 'free' by selling your personal info to untrustworthy companies / selling you junk you don't need) it's an innovative futuristic privilege.
Cold War propaganda was incredibly effective through generations.
edit: changed "If China does it for free" to "If China does it" since it had some distracting assumptions
Can you give an example of what China produces for free to the benefit of overall human well being, as well as instances of people calling Comet "an innovative futuristic privilege?"
https://old.reddit.com/r/stupidpol/comments/1lvoi0x/theres_a...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38242135-ai-superpowers
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523917
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38242135-ai-superpowers
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44523917
Are you unable to articulate your own response? These links don't do anything to help you.
They point people who are interested to the information without me having to spoon feed it to them. If you're not interested, don't click.
This is the equivalent of being on stage at a debate, putting a book on the podium and leaving.
The reason the live debate format isn't taken seriously by intellectuals is because it's not a competition in the pursuit of truth but in deception and theatrics.
Continue making excuses to not investigate the thing you clearly don't want to hear.
Continue making excuses to not investigate the thing you clearly don't want to hear.
no one in this thread is calling the tracking in this innovative. Additionally the government doesn't do anything for "free", if you make 200k a year you are paying $8k/mo or $10/hour just to live in the USA.
> no one in this thread is calling the tracking in this innovative
I didn't say otherwise. But clearly Perplexity (and Google etc) feels there is a market fit for this, so I'm referring to those customers and whatever future customers might come. This is also nothing new. See: basically all existing social media and its consequences.
> Additionally the government doesn't do anything for "free"
I reworded this since it wasn't the point, and had some assumptions made about usage.
I didn't say otherwise. But clearly Perplexity (and Google etc) feels there is a market fit for this, so I'm referring to those customers and whatever future customers might come. This is also nothing new. See: basically all existing social media and its consequences.
> Additionally the government doesn't do anything for "free"
I reworded this since it wasn't the point, and had some assumptions made about usage.
I think it's worth pointing out that in China it is the government doing it, whereas in the US it is private companies (in this particular context).
Um, obviously? You seem to have missed the point.
People ought to be most interested in the final outcome of each example.
People ought to be most interested in the final outcome of each example.
Yeah. However wild some of the "America is the land of the free, China is a hellhole" takes are, there is a difference between a tracking system designed to try to sell you holidays and a tracking system used to identify political dissidents.
> there is a difference between a tracking system designed to try to sell you holidays and a tracking system used to identify political dissidents
I have a feeling this assumption will age poorly.
I have a feeling this assumption will age poorly.
Why? People are openly dissident in the US.
On the HN front page today:
U.S. will review social media for foreign student visa applications
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524749
History tells us it won't stop here.
U.S. will review social media for foreign student visa applications
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44524749
History tells us it won't stop here.
Background checks on visa applicants is a farcry from digital surveillance to identify political dissidents. Although, I would agree with the notion that the US government has been increasingly becoming a surveillance state, but not nearly as pervasive as China.
This reads like the onion
It's the same website (techcrunch) that OP posted too, but if you watch any of Perplexity CEO's interviews, it's clear as day.
This makes me rethink their subscription I have. So we just have to assume any search we do on perplexity is tracked like hunting dogs ?
Ah. Well this explains why they didn't go with the pitch that AI can be a sufficient adblocker, which strikes me as the obvious use of AI.
Just pitching to VCs...why would any person want that?