AI company Perplexity is working on its own browser that will collect data on everything users do outside of the app. This will allow it to sell premium advertising, CEO Aravind Srinivas said in a recent interview.
“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to build a browser — to get data even outside of the app to understand you better. Because some of the queries that people make to these AI systems are purely work-related. It’s not that personal. On the other hand, what you buy, what hotels you stay in, what restaurants you go to, what you spend your time on — all of that tells us a lot more about you. We plan to use all of that context to build a better user profile and maybe, you know, show ads there through our feed,” the businessman said.
We’ll keep you updated as Perplexity moves forward with these developments.
Comet Browser Launch Timeline
The launch of the browser, called Comet, has been postponed several times — it’s now expected in May, according to Mr. Srinivas. If the company can implement these plans, it will have a real chance to succeed: Google has long established a system for tracking users and has grown into a company with a market capitalization of $2 trillion. It developed its own browser and its own mobile operating system to strengthen its position.
Now Perplexity is launching an offensive on the mobile front: its app will be pre-installed on the Razr series of smartphones, and negotiations are underway with Samsung.
Competitive Landscape and Challenges
Meta has its own advertising tracking technology, called Pixel, which is embedded in sites all over the Internet, adds NIXsolutions. Even Apple, despite positioning itself as a champion of privacy, tracks user locations and sells advertising in some applications by default.
Excessive zeal has already led Google to court, where it has been recognized as a monopoly in search and online advertising. As a result, it now faces the threat of forced alienation of its Chrome browser. Both Perplexity and OpenAI have already expressed interest in buying this project, signaling a shifting landscape in browser and advertising technologies.