Perplexity is bringing its AI Comet browser to Android

AI research company Perplexity launched Comet Browser today on Android. The startup debuted the AI-driven browser in July on desktop using AI-powered search.

The company provides most of the capabilities of the desktop version of Android. People can use Perplexity as their default search engine, and they can also mention tabs to ask the Assistant questions. They can also use voice mode to ask questions about all open tabs. Additionally, the Assistant can summarize searches across all tabs.

Perplexity said the browser can search and shop for you, too, and you can see what action Comet Assistant is taking. Moreover, the Android version has a built-in ad blocker.

In the coming weeks, the company said it aims to add new features to the app, including a chat agent that can search across sites, create shortcuts for Assistant to take quick actions, and a fully functional password manager in the coming weeks.

Earlier this month, the startup updated Comet Assistant on desktop to efficiently perform more complex tasks that run longer, such as transferring data from a website to a spreadsheet.

While Perplexity has chosen to launch on Android, the company said it will also be coming to iOS soon. The company noted that Android was a priority due to the volume of carriers and OEMs asking the startup to include Comet on their devices and solutions. However, there has been no partnership announcement from Perplexity.

Earlier this year, the startup partnered with Motorola to pre-load the app on the company’s devices. But Perplexity did not specify whether the agreement would extend to pre-installation of the new Comet browser as well.

AI browsers have been an area of ​​interest for many companies. Apart from Perplexity, OpenAI, Opera, and The Browser Company – now owned by Atlassian – have launched their own AI-based browsers. However, they were largely desktop versions. The browser company released Arc Search for mobile last year, but there have been no significant updates to the app. Late last year, the company shifted its focus to a new browser called Dia, which doesn’t have a mobile version yet.

These companies are trying hard to replace existing browsers such as Chrome and Safari with browsers powered by artificial intelligence. But security experts have raised questions about vulnerabilities in clients that could pose a security risk. In October, Perplexity wrote a blog post acknowledging these risks and saying that some new paradigms around AI-powered attacks will require rethinking security from the ground up.