The age of hyperlinks could be nearing its end. AI is coming for the reign of the Google search bar, and rising AI startup Perplexity is leading the charge. On Wednesday, the search startup officially launched Comet — its latest AI-powered web browser that ditches scrolling in favor of conversations, according to Gizmodo. The traditional search model that we’ve all come to know is what Comet is targeting, seeking to replace it with a more personalized search experience.
Comet is meant to function as “your second brain.” Similar to how OpenAI’s ChatGPT operates — with an added feature of browser tabs — Comet aims to get up close and personal through generative conversations to smoothly yield results exactly the way you want them. It runs on user activity and past searches to contextualize responses, while keeping up with research threads. The browser will eventually come to “learn how you think, in order to think better with you,” according to Perplexity’s official press release. In short: It will all but get in your head as it responds to your queries directly and intuitively.
Though AI chatbots have long raised red flags with hallucinations and often-inaccurate information, Perplexity stands out for providing more accurate, citation-backed responses. This already gives Comet an edge as an AI-generated search engine, as it prepares to take on search engine giant Google.
Is time running out for Google? The very thing Google’s empire was built on is now under threat. The experience of a Google search and looking through countless links — a valuable aspect of research — is what Perplexity describes as a “primitive” way to use the internet. Google’s attempt to keep up, particularly through its AI mode, has not exactly proven successful, with a slew of publishers accusing the search giant of theft — given that it scraped websites for content without proper credit and made it difficult for publishers to opt out if they weren’t happy with the situation.
Comet isn’t the only comet hitting Google. OpenAI is following suit as it prepares to launch its own AI-powered search engine in the coming weeks, according to Reuters. Were OpenAI’s browser to be adopted by the chatbot’s 500 mn weekly users, Google could be in for an even tougher time, seeing as search accounts for three-quarters of Alphabet’s revenue, according to the newswire.
So, what’s the catch with AI-powered browsers? The main concern for a unified AI-powered browser experience is potentially putting individual publishers out of business, and keeping original sources away from the user experience. Instead of relying on search engine optimization, online publishers will have to prioritize AI visibility to maintain revenue.