New Delhi: According to some sources, it has been reported that Perplexity are holding some discussions with smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its newly introduced Comet browser in their upcoming smartphones. The Artificial Intelligence answer engine platform wants its AI-powered browser to reach tens of millions of users by the end of 2026. This Comet browser was recently launched on July 10 and is currently available to Perplexity’s Max subscribers only. Other users will be given access on an invite basis in the coming days. Notably, the AI browser is powered by the same AI answer engine that powers its search platforms.
CEO of Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, said that the company is in talks with the smartphone brand original equipment manufacturers to pre-load the Comet browser. The comment is interesting given that currently, Comet only supports Windows and macOS desktop interface, and there is no mobile browser application.
It is likely that the mobile version of the application is already in the works, and the company plans to launch it in partnership with some smartphone brands. Last year, Perplexity joined hands with Nothing to offer a free Pro subscription to all Indian users who purchase the Nothing Phone 2a through the company’s official website or from the e-commerce website Flipkart. And recently, Perplexity is offering their Pro Plan to Airtel users free of cost.
The CEO is reported to be considering pre-installing the browser in smartphones to increase its stickiness. Essentially, the company is banking on the probability that if an application comes pre-loaded on a smartphone, there is a higher chance that users will try this out. Notably, the company is said to have ambitions to reach 10 million to 100 million users in 2026 across all platforms.
While pre-installing the application on the smartphone might be possible, Srinivas said that brands are not very willing to make it the default application for the browser in the smartphone, but it might be introduced in upcoming smartphones. It’s not easy to convince mobile original equipment manufacturers to change the default browser to Comet from Chrome.
The Comet browser comes with an AI-powered sidebar assistant that is contextually aware of all the opened tabs and can assist users with any queries about them. The browser also has agentic capabilities and can autonomously book an appointment with a business, send a webpage or its content as an email, purchase products from the e-commerce websites, and more.
