It seems that Perplexity wants to be Google, not merely compete with it. Perplexity is developing its own browser, in part, to gather information on anything users do apart from its own app, CEO Aravind Srinivas stated earlier this week on the TBPN podcast. This allows it to sell premium advertisements.

According to Srinivas, Perplexity intends to launch Comet, its own browser, the following month.

“The reason we’re doing the browser is that it might be the best way to build agents,”

He added in the conversation that

“A browser is essentially a containerized operating system. It can let you access other third-party services through hidden tabs if you’re already logged into them, scrape the page on the client side, and perform reasoning and take actions on your behalf.”

Other AI companies are already moving in this direction. Both Google’s Mariner and OpenAI’s Operator use the browser to carry out orders and manage websites. Although it hasn’t released its own browser yet, OpenAI is reportedly working on one. Meanwhile, the US government has ruled that Google has a monopoly in search engine business and may force the corporation to sell Chrome.

According to Bloomberg, The day prior to his announcement with Motorola, Srinivas had the following discussion. We talked about his discussions about running TikTok, how he built an IOS, an assistant that regulates other applications, why he’s investing on managing the browser interface, the different types of collaborations he’s looking into to expand Perplexity’s reach, and more.

When we showed them a preview of the Perplexity Android staff member, which was released in January, the conversation picked up speed. They gave it a try, and it was far more dependable than Gemini. They became enthusiastic about making Preplexity their preferred assistant by preliminary loading the app and sending push notifications to users. Google halted them by stating that if Gemini is not the default system, they cannot proceed with the phone’s launch through the Google Play Shop and using the official edition of Android.

However, this kind of behavior has made people fear big tech in the U.S. and Europe, regardless of their political views. It is also impossible to overestimate the irony of Srinivas publicly revealing this week his intentions to sell browser-tracking advertisements.

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused Google of engaging in monopolistic practices to control search and internet advertising, and Google is currently battling the department in court. The judge should require Google to divest Chrome, according to the DOJ. Not surprisingly, considering Srinivas’ motivations, both OpenAI and Perplexity stated that they would purchase the Chrome browser company in the event that Google was compelled to sell.