Everyone Can Use Perplexity's Comet Ai Browser Now - For Free

Matthias Kulka/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Comet is now disposable globally for free.
• It debuted successful July for $200-per-month.
• It's portion of a broader manufacture effort to AI-ify browsers.

Perplexity announced Thursday that its AI-powered web browser, Comet, is now disposable everyplace for free.

Launched successful July done nan company's $200-per-month Perplexity Max service, nan browser comes pinch a built-in AI supplier that tin way users' browsing activity and interact pinch third-party websites and apps. Perplexity has marketed its caller browser arsenic a much intuitive, dynamic, and engaging replacement to accepted browsers for illustration Chrome and Safari, which nan institution has painted arsenic antiquated, one-way portals to nan net -- though Gemini is now integrated straight pinch Chrome. 

Also: Perplexity's Comet AI browser could expose your information to attackers - here's how

Comet is positioned arsenic an AI companion that mildly tugs connected people's innate inquisitiveness arsenic they navigate nan web, starring them to observe caller and unexpected information. 

"Comet is simply a browser that learns pinch nan personification and enables them to spell deeper wherever it matters most," a Perplexity spokesperson told ZDNET. "Over time, it becomes a 2nd brain, powering discovery, curiosity, and action."

Millions of group person signed up to entree Comet since its July debut, according to nan spokesperson. All Perplexity free, Pro, and Plus users tin effort it starting coming by downloading it here.

A caller era of nan internet

Google Chrome and Apple-owned Safari person agelong been nan world's astir celebrated web browsers by a important margin, but Perplexity has been pushing aggressively to pull users to Comet and, by extension, to its broader imagination of a paradigm displacement successful nan very quality of browsing. Last month, for example, nan institution offered a free proceedings of Comet to students, arsenic good arsenic a free twelvemonth for PayPal and Venmo users. 

Also: 5 reasons I usage section AI connected my desktop - alternatively of ChatGPT, Gemini, aliases Claude

In an op-ed published past period successful Arena, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srivinas based on that nan emergence of AI was ushering successful a caller era for humanity, "the Question Age," successful which nan barriers to pursuing one's curiosity and frankincense gaining a deeper corporate knowing of nan beingness would beryllium little than ever earlier successful history.

"In an property wherever AI holds astir limitless information," he writes, "the group who thrive will beryllium those who ne'er tally retired of questions. The awesome industrialists, nan starring capitalists, nan winners of this caller era will each beryllium nan astir curious."

Growing competition

Other tech developers person besides been investing successful AI-powered web browsers, driven by nan thought that group successful nan early will for illustration to interact pinch agents to thief them find accusation online, arsenic opposed to being near to their ain devices.

Also: Do you get your news from AI? Who is - and isn't, according to Pew Research

Software elephantine Atlassian, for example, precocious purchased The Browser Company for a reported worth of $610 cardinal and pinch nan extremity of giving a awesome AI upgrade to nan Dia browser, specifically pinch an oculus toward trading nan caller browser to knowledge workers. 

Google, meanwhile, has begun rolling retired Gemini successful Chrome -- nan company's flagship generative AI chatbot tin respond to personification questions astir unfastened webpages and execute tasks that require pulling accusation from crossed aggregate tabs.