""I need an assistant," they muttered. I thought: What if your browser were the assistant? That's exactly what Perplexity AI is betting on with Comet, their AI-powered browser that just went from a $200-per-month exclusive to free for everyone worldwide. And if you think this is just another browser with a chatbot bolted on, you're missing the bigger shift happening right now."
"Three months later, on October 2nd, they made it completely free. That kind of strategic pivot - from premium exclusivity to mass accessibility in 90 days - tells you everything about the intensity of what's brewing in the browser space. According to Perplexity, users who downloaded Comet increased their question-asking by 6-18 times on their first day. That's not a marginal improvement. That's a fundamental shift in how people interact with information online."
"The heart of Comet is what Perplexity calls the "sidecar assistant" - an AI companion that lives alongside every tab you open. This assistant can automatically see what you're looking at, allowing users to ask questions without opening new windows or copying and pasting text or links. I know what you're thinking: "Great, another chatbot that's just going to interrupt me.""
Perplexity released Comet as an AI-powered browser that embeds a context-aware "sidecar assistant" alongside every tab. The sidecar can view the current page and lets users ask questions without opening new windows or copying and pasting links. Perplexity shifted Comet from a $200-per-month exclusive to free access in 90 days, driving millions onto a waitlist and dramatically increasing user question-asking by 6–18 times on first-day use. Comet aims to keep pace with user thinking rather than replace it, positioning contextual assistance as a core browser capability and signaling rapid change in the browser landscape.
Read at Medium
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