Nvidia-backed Perplexity launches AI-powered browser to take on Google Chrome
The launch marks Perplexity AI's entry into the competitive browser market, aiming to replace traditional navigation with agentic AI that can think, act, and decide on behalf of users.
Google Chrome held a commanding 68% share of the global browser market in June, according to StatCounter, cementing its position as the world's most widely used browser—far ahead of Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.
Comet enables users to ask questions, perform tasks, and conduct research in a single, unified interface. The browser integrates a built-in assistant that can compare products, summarise content, book meetings, and transform complex workflows into simple, conversational experiences.
Comet is currently available to subscribers who pay $200 per month for Perplexity Max, with broader access rolling out via invite over the summer.
Backed by high-profile investors like Jeff Bezos, SoftBank, and Nvidia , Perplexity is leveraging the launch of Comet to directly challenge incumbents such as Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Edge, while also exploring new revenue streams in advertising and e-commerce.
Last year, OpenAI added a search engine to ChatGPT and recently made the service available to all of its users. Google also introduced an AI-powered search feature, called AI Overviews, last May.
Comet stores data locally and avoids model training on personal information—a move likely to appeal to privacy-conscious users.
However, the company has come under criticism from media organizations such as News Corp-owned outlets, Forbes and Wired, and Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones for using their content without consent or compensation. Perplexity has responded by launching a publisher partnership program to collaborate with news outlets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
In China, repair demand for banned Nvidia AI chipsets booms
Nvidia not permitted to sell its most advanced chips to China Some Nvidia AI GPUs in China have been heavily used, leading to higher failure rates US lawmakers have introduced bills designed to limit smuggling of Nvidia chips By Che Pan and Casey Hall BEIJING/SHANGHAI, - Demand in China has begun surging for a business that, in theory, shouldn't exist: the repair of advanced Nvidia artificial intelligence chipsets that the U.S. has banned the export of to its trade and tech rival. Around a dozen boutique companies now offer repair services, according to two such firms in the tech hub of Shenzhen which say they predominantly fix Nvidia's H100 graphics processing units that have somehow made their way to the country, as well as A100 GPUs and a range of other chips. Even before it was launched, the H100 was banned from sale in China in September 2022 by U.S. authorities keen to rein in Chinese technological development, particularly advances that its military could use. Its predecessor, the A100, was also banned at the same time after being on the market for over two years. "There is really significant repair demand," said a co-owner of a firm that has been fixing Nvidia's gaming GPUs for 15 years and began working on AI chips in late 2024. Business has been so good that the owners created a new company to handle those orders, which now repairs up to 500 Nvidia AI chips per month. Its facilities, as shown in social media advertising, include a room which can accommodate 256 servers, simulating customers' data centre environments to conduct testing and validate repairs. The rapid growth of the repair industry from late last year supports the view that there has been a significant amount of smuggling of Nvidia chipsets into China. Tenders have shown that the government and the military have made purchases of the U.S. firm's banned AI chips. Concern about large-scale smuggling of high-end Nvidia products into China has prompted both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to introduce bills that would require the tracking of chipsets so that their location can be verified after they are sold. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration also backed the idea this week. The thriving repair industry also highlights how Nvidia's advanced GPUs remain in high demand despite new, albeit less powerful, products from Chinese tech giant Huawei . Though the buying, selling and repair of Nvidia GPUs is not illegal in China, sources for this article were reluctant to draw scrutiny from U.S. or Chinese authorities and declined to be identified. Nvidia cannot legally provide repair or replacement items for restricted products in China. In contrast, sources said if an Nvidia GPU in another nation has a defect and is under warranty, which is normally three years, the company usually replaces it. An Nvidia spokesperson said only the company and authorised partners "are able to provide the service and support that customers need. Using restricted products without approved hardware, software, and technical support is a nonstarter, both technically and economically." REPAIR DEMAND MAY NOT FADE Nvidia has only just been allowed to recommence sales of its H20 AI chipset, which has been specifically developed for China to comply with U.S. restrictions. Switching over to H20 chipsets is, however, not necessarily a simple or good option for Chinese entities. Price is an issue as one H20 server with eight GPUs inside will likely cost more than 1 million yuan , industry sources say. H20 chipsets, which have increased memory bandwidth, have been specifically designed for AI inference work, but firms involved in the training of large language models would likely prefer H100 chipsets which are better suited to that task. Industry sources said some of the H100 and A100 GPUs in China have been crunching data around the clock for years now, leading to an increase in failure rates. Depending on how frequently a GPU is used and how often it is maintained, an Nvidia GPU generally lasts two to five years before needing to be repaired, they said. According to the first source, his company charges between 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan to fix a GPU depending on the complexity of the problem. The second Shenzhen-based repair service provider - which shifted from GPU rentals to repairs this year - says it can repair up to 200 Nvidia AI chips each month, charging about 10% of the GPUs' original selling price per repair. Services generally include software testing, fan repair, printed circuit board and GPU memory fault diagnostics and repair, as well as the replacement of broken parts. In the meantime, smuggling of high-end Nvidia chips continues. Traders of chips in China say customer demand is pivoting to top-of-the-line B200 chips which Nvidia began shipping to other countries in larger quantities this year. A server with eight B200 GPUs costs more than 3 million yuan in China, they said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Canada Talks Up Pension Funds' Financial Muscle as Lever in US Trade Talks
Canada's major pension funds could boost their investments in the US, a top Canadian cabinet minister said, as the country looks to negotiate a trade agreement with the Trump administration. Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for US trade, is in Washington for talks with US lawmakers. He brought up Canada's pension funds when asked if President Donald Trump will seek a specific pledge for more investment into the US. 'If they're looking for countries that invest massively in the United States, that's great news for Canada,' LeBlanc said in Washington after the meetings. 'Our pension funds alone have over $1 trillion of investment in the United States. That can potentially grow by $100 billion or more a year, and that's just the big nine Canadian pension funds.' The US has offered the idea of increased foreign investments as one option for some partners in exchange for more favorable trade treatment. Trump said this week that the US has reached a trade deal with Japan that includes a promise of a $550 billion Japanese-backed fund for investing in the US, though terms remain unclear. The US and South Korea have also discussed creating an investment vehicle for US projects, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News. LeBlanc stopped short of saying the government would force pension funds to increase their US assets or invest in specific American projects as a quid pro quo for lower tariffs from Trump. Canada's public pension managers are significant investors in US infrastructure and other assets. The largest, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, had 47% of its capital allocated to the US as of the end of March. Its recent US deals included a joint venture with Equinix Inc. to raise $15 billion to build new data centers, including in the US. But traditionally those pension funds are shielded from political interference in their investment decisions. CPPIB had C$714 billion under management as of March 31. Michel Leduc, a spokesperson for CPPIB, said in an interview that the fund is 'not part of any negotiations' and 'not being asked to invest more in the US,' though 'there's been some outreach from the Canadian government to understand the facts.' CPPIB is expected to grow to C$1 trillion by the early 2030s and 'obviously you will see the dollars being more significant in the US' with that growth, Leduc said. LeBlanc said he met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday night and they had a 'productive, cordial discussion.' On Thursday he met with Republican senators including Tim Scott of South Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Roger Marshall of Kansas. But the minister was vague on the question of whether Canada can reach a trade deal with the US by Aug 1. Trump has threatened to hike US tariffs on Canadian imports to 35% on that day, up from 25% — though White House officials have suggested they'll continue exempting goods covered by the North American free trade pact known as USMCA. 'Canadians expect us to take the time necessary to get the best deal we can in the interest of Canadian workers,' LeBlanc said. He said Canada will only sign an agreement once Prime Minister Mark Carney 'decides that it's the best deal we can get.' Earlier this week, Carney himself lowered expectations for an agreement in the short term. He told reporters that Canada's aim 'is not to reach a deal whatever it costs,' but would instead use all the time it needs to reach the best outcome. Carney described the negotiations as complex, in part because the Trump administration has a number of objectives 'that change from time to time.' For now, the Canadian economy has some breathing room because many products, including Canada's vast exports of crude oil, fuel and fertilizer, are exempt from tariffs when they're shipped under the rules of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Yet Canada still faces US tariffs and duties on a few key sectors: autos, steel, aluminum and lumber. Carney's team has been looking for a path forward on eliminating or at least reducing those tariffs. Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the US, told reporters that American officials have taken note of Canada's recent actions to limit foreign steel imports — particularly from China. 'There is a time when the deal is the right deal, and it's important for us to be in a position to continue negotiating til we get to that point,' she said. 'Some of the measures that we're taking, including in steel last week, are designed to help us have the route that we need to get where we need to go.' This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Deccan Herald
32 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
Play Store dominance case: Google moves Supreme Court against NCLAT ruling
CCI's October 20, 2024, order had penalised Google for allegedly exploiting its dominant position in markets such as online search and the Android app store.
