TL;DR (What You Need to Know in 30 Seconds)

• Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivas is shifting from fighting Google’s search dominance to building an AI-first browser called Comet — betting browsers are the future of AI agents.
• Motorola will pre-install Perplexity on its new Razr phones, thanks partly to antitrust pressure weakening Google’s grip.
• Perplexity’s strategy? Build a browser that acts like an operating system, executing actions for users directly — while gathering the context needed to out-personalise ChatGPT.

The Browser Wars Are Back — But This Time, AI Is Leading the Charge

When Aravind Srinivas last spoke publicly about Perplexity, it was a David vs Goliath story: a small AI startup taking on Google’s search empire. Fast forward just one year, and the battle lines have moved. Now Srinivas is gearing up for an even bigger fight — for your browser.

Perplexity isn’t just an AI assistant anymore. It’s about to launch its own AI-powered browser, called Comet, next month. And according to Srinivas, it could redefine how digital assistants work forever.

This vision pits Perplexity not just against Google Search, but against Chrome itself — and the entire way we use the internet.

Fighting Google’s Grip on Phones — and Winning Small Battles

Google’s stranglehold over Android isn’t just about search. It’s about default apps, browser dominance, and OEM revenue sharing. Srinivas openly admits that if it weren’t for the Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust trial against Google, deals like Perplexity’s latest partnership with Motorola might never have happened.

Thanks to that pressure, Motorola will now pre-install Perplexity on its new Razr devices — offering an alternative to Google’s AI (Gemini) for millions of users.

Still, it’s not easy. Changing your default assistant on Android still takes “seven or eight clicks,” Srinivas says — and Google reportedly pressured Motorola to ensure Gemini stays the default for system-level functions.

Why Build a Browser?

It’s simple: Control.

• On Android and iOS, assistants are restricted.
• Apps like Uber, Spotify, and Instagram guard their data fiercely.
• AI agents can’t fully access app information to act intelligently.

But in a browser? Logged-in sessions, client-side scraping, reasoning over live pages — all become possible.

“Answering questions will become a commodity,” Srinivas predicts. “The real value will be actions — booking rides, finding songs, ordering food — across services, without users lifting a finger.”

Perplexity’s Comet browser will be the launchpad for this vision, eventually expanding from mobile to Mac and Windows devices.

And yes, they plan to fight Microsoft’s dominance on laptops too, where Copilot is increasingly bundled natively.

Building the Infrastructure for AI Memory

Personalisation isn’t just remembering what users searched for. Srinivas argues it’s about knowing your real-world behaviour — your online shopping, your social media browsing, your ridesharing history.

ChatGPT, he says, can’t see most of that.
Perplexity’s browser could.

By operating at the browser layer, Perplexity aims to gather the deepest context across apps and web activity — building the kind of memory and personalisation that other AI assistants can only dream of.

It’s an ambitious bet — but if it works, it could make Perplexity the most indispensable AI in your digital life.

New Frontiers (and Old Enemies)

Beyond Motorola, Perplexity is eyeing deals with telcos, laptop manufacturers, and OEMs globally. They’re cutting deals with publishers to avoid scraping lawsuits. They’re investing heavily in infrastructure, data distillation, and frontier AI models.

They even flirted with a bid for TikTok, though Srinivas admits ByteDance’s reluctance to part with its algorithm made it a long shot.

What’s clear is that scale, distribution, and control are the new prizes. And Perplexity is playing a long, tactical game to win them.

What do YOU think?

If browsers become the new battleground for AI, will Google lose not just search — but its grip on the entire internet? Let us know in the comments below.

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• Perplexity Assistant: The New AI Contender Taking on ChatGPT and Gemini
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• Or try Perplexity AI for free by tapping here.