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I Tried Perplexity’s Comet AI Web Browser and It Might Be the Future

When it works, Comet supercharges browsing online, literally doing the work for you.

It takes deep, below-the-navel brazen audacity to take on Google in online search. Just ask Microsoft, DuckDuckGo, Brave and the slew of other search engines that have tried to scrape away at Google’s near 90% global market share. It takes a kick in the head to think Google would sell Chrome, its wildly popular web browser. 

It seems that AI search company Perplexity has a pair of grit and gall, along with a multitude of head fractures, as it not only aims to usurp Google in online search, it offered to buy Chrome outright for $34.5 billion, which is $14.5 billion more than Perplexity is valued at. 

Apart from gaining access to billions of users overnight, Perplexity doesn’t really need Chrome. It already has its own AI-powered web browser, called Comet, and after using it for the past few weeks, I’m making it my default. 

Comet is an AI-powered Chromium-based web browser that puts Perplexity’s answer engine at the core of the experience. 

Chromium is an open-source web browser standard made by Google and allows anyone to build their own browser based on Chromium’s codebase. Browsers like Microsoft Edge and Opera are built on Chromium. Building a Chromium browser allows for a stable online experience with frequent security updates and interoperability with Chrome extensions. 

So, Comet is essentially half Chrome minus the Google integrations.

Here’s what Comet can do that Chrome can’t: Questions typed into Comet’s address bar generate Perplexity AI summaries, with links to various sources. Highlighting text and right-clicking can bring up a Perplexity-powered search and summary. While watching a YouTube video, you can call on the Perplexity assistant to summarize it for you, and you can ask follow-up questions. That same summarization capability applies to articles as well. (Although as a journalist and someone who doesn’t suffer from TikTok brain, I just read articles through.) Comet also has agentic capabilities. For example, I can have Comet’s built-in AI assistant analyze a winning Grand Archive deck and it’ll automatically add those cards to my cart on TCGplayer, a separate marketplace for buying cards. 

The AI power at the core of Comet changes how I use the internet in slight but meaningful ways. AI can expand upon an article on a political candidate, giving me the ability to ask about their policies and voting record. Or, when shopping for a mechanical keyboard, I can bring up the Perplexity assistant to ask about which switches on the market give the best «thock» with a «creamy» feel. (Perplexity strongly recommends the Gateron Oil King switches.) 

Could I do the same just by opening a separate ChatGPT tab? Sure. But having it all built into the browser means I don’t need to spend time giving the AI chatbot necessary context. It can look at the screen I’m looking at and understand what I’m trying to expand upon.

Comet isn’t perfect, however. My biggest pain point is Perplexity itself. When I write, I often need to source other articles and pieces of information based on recency. Typing in «CNET Gemini» into the address bar, Perplexity gives me a summary of CNET’s coverage of Gemini and a few links, but not the kinds of links I’m looking for. I’m often looking for the most recent pieces CNET has published about Gemini. (The same applies when I search for «site:cnet.com gemini».) This applies beyond just CNET-related backlinking. When researching other topics, I’m often trying to land on the most up-to-date stories and Perplexity tends to bring up more explanatory pieces.

I often find myself jumping to Google search as Google tends to index links by recency. 

Another pain point is the consistency of Perplexity’s agentic capabilities. Last month, ChatGPT launched ChatGPT Agent. This new mode in ChatGPT lets an AI do research and browsing for you. It takes time, however. For example, I asked ChatGPT Agent to look for hotel rooms near the San Diego Convention Center between specific dates and under a specific price. It took ChatGPT Agent 15 minutes of web browsing to give me a few options. With Comet, Perplexity tried doing this task in as little as 30 seconds. The problem was that the hotel recommendations didn’t match the location or price I was looking for. Sure, I could go back-and-forth with Perplexity to help sharpen its focus, but it’d be a time suck. 

In another test, I tried recreating the Grand Archive deck that I had built the day before. I pulled up a list of a winning deck and asked Perplexity to figure out how much it’d cost to build the exact same deck and to add those cards to my cart on TCGplayer. This time, Perplexity got stuck. It kept on trying to put together an accurate list but couldn’t actually move on to the step of going to TCGplayer. It’d ask if I were ready to move forward, to which I’d respond with an emphatic confirmation. Each time it’d spend a bunch of time thinking only to go nowhere. 

So, when Perplexity works, it’s awesome. But getting it to work can feel like a dice roll. 

Still, it’s too early to give Comet a final score. The browser is still limited to Max users and probably has a lot more updates on the way. Even then, it’s a glimpse as to what AI-powered web browsing will look like, and I expect Google to scramble and put something together to defend its market share. 

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Apple Won’t Have to Provide an Encryption Backdoor in the UK, Says US Official

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says the US and UK worked out a deal.

The US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, announced on social media late Monday evening that Apple will not be required to provide an encryption backdoor in the UK, easing concerns about weakened privacy and security safeguards.

Gabbard said the the private data of Americans will be protected after an agreement was apparently worked out with the UK, following prolonged behind-the-scenes maneuvering. 

«Over the past few months, I’ve been working closely with our partners in the UK, alongside @POTUS and @VP, to ensure Americans’ private data remains private and our Constitutional rights and civil liberties are protected,» Gabbard said on X. «As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties.»

Apple did not immediately respond to an email for comment. The company has regularly pushed back hard against government requests that it create a backdoor for law enforcement.

What was the UK asking for?

Originally, the UK demanded that Apple provide a way for the government to access data from iCloud accounts not only for British citizens, but also for citizens of other countries, to assist in criminal investigations.

In response, Apple in February pulled an iCloud feature, Advanced Data Protection, in the UK. At the time, Apple said it was «gravely disappointed» by the actions of the UK’s Home Office, the country’s interior ministry, which is responsible for areas including public safety, cybersecurity and immigration. It’s unclear if the announcement will pave the way for Apple to bring back Advanced Data Protection in the region.

More recent reports suggested the UK was backtracking on its original demands and was looking for a way out. 

A representative for the Department of National Intelligence responded to an email seeking more details about the agreement with a link to Gabbard’s X post and a letter Gabbard sent to US Sen. Ron Wyden and US Rep. Andy Biggs in February saying that her office would examine the issue.

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Apple Is Making All Four iPhone 17 Models in India in a Big Pivot From China, Report Says

It’s one way to minimize Trump tariffs as the September launch date for the iPhone 17 draws near.

Apple is manufacturing all four of its iPhone 17 models in India ahead of next month’s launch, according to Bloomberg. That marks a first for the company, as it tries to mitigate the effects of President Trump’s tariffs on products produced in China.

The production is taking place at five Indian factories. Tata Group is managing half of the manufacturing in new plants in the southern state Tamil Nadu, and Taiwan’s Foxconn will be manufacturing iPhones near the Bangalore airport.

India has become the No. 1 maker of smartphones shipped to the US, and its iPhone production there jumped 63% (to $7.5 billion in exports) in the second quarter of 2025 as Apple has maneuvered through the new landscape of US tariffs.

Earlier this year, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple would be moving nearly all of its iPhone assembly to India to avoid tariff penalties. However, China will still be the top producer (by far) of iPhones to non-US markets.

Apple will launch its four new iPhone 17 models sometime in September (check out all the rumored iPhone 17 features) in what may be the last iteration of the company’s typical late-summer product launches. Apple reportedly will begin two-phase rollouts beginning in 2026.

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PlayStation Plus Subscribers Can Play Marvel’s Spider-Man and More Now

Those PS Plus subscribers can also play a game trial of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can, and PlayStation Plus subscribers can now become the famous web-slinger in Marvel’s Spider-Man.

PlayStation Plus is Sony’s version of Xbox Game Pass, and it offers subscribers a large and constantly expanding library of games. There are three PlayStation Plus tiers — Essential ($10 a month), Extra ($15 a month) and Premium ($18 a month) — and each gives subscribers access to games. However, only Extra and Premium tier subscribers can access the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. 

Here are all the games PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can access now. You can also check out the games all PS Plus subscribers can play in August, including Lies of P.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 

When you start this game, Spider-Man is already a pretty experienced crime-fighter. That means you aren’t working your way up from fighting street-level crooks to organized criminals. No, you’re swinging right into fighting heavy-hitters like Wilson Fisk and Shocker. As you’re fighting these major players in the criminal underworld, you’ll also have to navigate Peter Parker’s personal relationships and career while still trying to help the millions of people in New York City.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (game trial)*

Hideo Kojima is back with another trippy and visually stunning game. Death Stranding 2 is set a few months after the first game in the series. The United Cities of America are connected, but humanity still faces the threat of extinction. It’s up to you and your team to travel a world filled with strange enemies to answer haunting questions, like whether people are better off disconnected from one another.

Note that this is a time-limited trial. PS Plus Premium subscribers can only play five hours of gameplay. If you decide to buy the game, your progress and trophies will carry over.

Resident Evil 2*

Experience the classic 1998 PlayStation game that helped spark a media franchise. This isn’t the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remaster, but the story remains mostly the same. A few months after the Mansion Incident, Raccoon City has been overrun by zombies. You’ll play as rookie cop Leon Kennedy and college student Claire Redfield as they explore the city’s remains and try to escape with their lives. But plan accordingly. With limited supplies scattered around the map, you might not be able to shoot your way out of every situation.

Other games added to PS Plus

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can play all of the games listed above, as well as the ones listed here, now.

*Premium subscribers only.

For more on PlayStation Plus, here’s what to know about the service and a rundown of PS Plus Extra and Premium games added in July. You can also check out the latest and upcoming games on Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.

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