When my browser booked dinner and emailed my husband

With last week’s launch of Comet, its new web browser, AI company Perplexity is tackling a new challenge: reinventing how everyday users interact with the web. Just one week in, demand for Comet is already strong, according to Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas.

Currently available to Perplexity Max subscribers, Comet will be rolled out by invitation only over the next few weeks, with priority given to those on a growing waitlist. “Comet [invite] demand gives me the early Gmail launch vibes,” wrote Srinivas on LinkedIn. “What an incredible product it was and Comet is still not in the same [league] but feels special to have Perplexity build something people really want.”

This week, Perplexity invited IBM Think to test out the browser firsthand. I set out with two questions in mind: just how well can Comet deliver what I ask of it, and does it really have the potential to disrupt how we engage with the internet today?

First, what is Comet? At first glance, it looks like the child of a traditional browser and Perplexity’s landing page. Users can type in web addresses, though, after years of using Google Chrome’s tab bar, it can feel oddly disorienting not to rely on it for links and navigation. If you’re one of Perplexity’s 22 million active users,  the prompt box at the center of the screen will feel instantly familiar.

Type in a query, and you’ll see Comet search, think and execute the request, along with offering follow-up actions or related questions. Much like OpenAI’s Operator or deep research features, this interactivity gives users more control, said Chris Hay, a Distinguished Engineer at IBM, in an interview with IBM Think.

So, what can Comet do for us that its browser predecessors can’t? According to Perplexity, Comet can execute complete workflows, while keeping user context in mind.

We tested Comet on several day-to-day tasks after linking it to Gmail, Google Calendar and our favorite websites. Pulling up emails directly from the browser was easy; you simply ask it to do so. I asked Comet to surface emails for an upcoming trip, which it did … sometimes.

Comet can execute tasks like finding and booking a restaurant. It can even send an email using Gmail—which it did, to my husband, and I was charmed to discover that there was no way of telling that it had not been written or drafted by me. Giving the browser broad instructions like “find a restaurant and book it” and watching it act on my behalf was equally impressive. Whether it was checking items on Amazon, making reservations or even navigating France’s notoriously tricky train booking system, when Comet got it right, it truly felt like the beginning of a new era in search.

“The browser is going to be good in the typical scenarios, but they will have trained it for those. Booking a flight, a restaurant—that’s the typical example you get all of the time,” said Hay, noting that Comet might behave differently for different tasks.

Comet doesn’t always get it right: at one point, I tried to prompt the browser to book a table for a friend of mine and myself, and it ended up emailing a different contact.

Because it’s built on AI, Comet also reinforces behaviors that we have already seen with AI search. Since the AI search engines tend to summarize information rather than direct users to external sites, people are more likely to stay on the same page—in what some call “zero-click” search. And sure enough, recent reports show that click-through rates are lower with AI-powered search tools.

With Perplexity’s Comet, you can also “chat” with the content of a landing page, asking the browser questions about what’s displayed. It will even translate content automatically if it’s in a different language from the one you’ve been using. While useful, these features raise questions around monetization and advertising.

“It changes SEO forever,” said Hay. “We are used to SEO being search, keywords, hitting a landing page. Now we're moving into this world of AI SEO. How is that landing page even relevant now? Is there a landing page that is designed for Comet browsing?”

Of course, Perplexity isn’t the only tech company attempting to build a browser truly designed for AI—and, dare we say, to challenge Google’s Chrome or Apple’s Safari. The Browser Company recently launched its agentic browser Dia, and Opera Neon is promising to assist its users and take action on their behalf. Reuters reported that OpenAI is developing its own browser as well, with plans to integrate the company’s own AI products, such as its agent, Operator.

But will that be enough to sway users who have been using Chrome and Safari for years? Google and Apple still own nearly 85% of global browser traffic. “We are ingrained in going to Google: type, hit ‘search,’ click,” said Hay. “I wonder if people will download the browser in the first place.” It remains to be seen whether the appeal of agentic AI will be strong enough to break the habit.