{"id":56596,"date":"2025-10-02T16:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/56596\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T16:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:39:07","slug":"perplexitys-comet-ai-browser-now-free-max-users-get-new-background-assistant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/56596\/","title":{"rendered":"Perplexity\u2019s Comet AI browser now free; Max users get new ‘background assistant’"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI search startup Perplexity<\/a> is making its new Comet<\/a> browser available to everyone in the world for free\u00a0as it works to position the product against big browsers and search engines.\u00a0For certain paid subscribers, the startup has also launched a new \u201cbackground assistant\u201d to handle multiple tasks via Comet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perplexity first launched\u00a0Comet to\u00a0subscribers of its $200-per-month\u00a0Max\u00a0plan<\/a>\u00a0three months ago, and since then, \u201cmillions\u201d have signed up on the waitlist to download the browser.\u00a0Comet\u2019s main feature is a sidecar assistant that joins you while you browse, helping to answer any questions you may have about the web page\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0on,\u00a0summarize content, manage web content, and navigate web pages on your behalf.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perplexity\u2019s move to make Comet free comes as the startup\u00a0fights to compete against both incumbents like\u00a0Google Chrome<\/a>\u00a0and newcomers like\u00a0The Browser Company\u2019s AI-powered browser Dia<\/a>.\u00a0It also comes ahead of OpenAI\u2019s\u00a0much-anticipated\u00a0AI-powered browser launch<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the face of such competition, Perplexity will need to prove that Comet\u2019s agentic capabilities\u00a0work reliably. Because without tangible productivity gains, people might be less inclined to switch from their existing browsers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For free users,\u00a0Perplexity\u2019s Comet browser experience is still limited to the sidecar assistant.\u00a0All users can also access different tools like Discover (personalized news and content recommendations similar to OpenAI\u2019s new Pulse); Spaces (to organize and manage different projects); Shopping (assists in\u00a0comparing prices and finding deals across online retailers); Travel (offers aggregated information on travel destinations, flights, accommodation,\u00a0etc); Finance (tools for budgeting, tracking expenses, monitoring investments); and Sports (updates on scores, schedules, and news).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max users get access to high-performing AI models\u00a0and\u00a0can access Perplexity\u2019s email assistant, which\u00a0promises to draft replies and write responses that match your tone; organize and prioritize your inbox; schedule meetings; and answer questions about your inbox.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max users\u00a0also\u00a0get\u00a0early access\u00a0to\u00a0Perplexity products and features, including a new \u201cbackground assistant\u201d that CEO Aravind Srinivas announced at an event Wednesday evening.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"\"Perplexity\u2019s \u201cbackground assistant\u201d can perform multiple tasks at once. Image Credits:Perplexity<\/p>\n

A company spokesperson described\u00a0the assistant as \u201ca team of assistants working for you\u201d\u00a0that you can manage\u00a0and track\u00a0from a central dashboard like a \u201cmission control.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The assistant performs\u00a0multiple\u00a0tasks on your computer in the background\u00a0while you do other work or walk away to make a sandwich.\u00a0In an example a spokesperson gave me, you could give the assistant a task to send an email, add the cheapest tickets to a concert to your cart, and find the best direct flight on a specific date and time.\u00a0You can check the progress of the task completion in the dashboard\u00a0and\u00a0jump in to complete the tasks \u2013 like hitting send on the email, intervening, or taking over. The assistant will\u00a0notify you\u00a0when it has finished its task.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0background assistant\u00a0also has\u00a0\u201cbetter connectors,\u201d so it can access other apps on your computer, per the spokesperson.\u00a0TechCrunch asked for more specifics about use cases and where the background assistant thrives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Free Comet users can also\u00a0purchase\u00a0a $5-per-month standalone subscription to Comet Plus, a forthcoming product that aims to provide an AI-enhanced alternative to Apple News.\u00a0Pro users (who pay $20-per-month for\u00a0advanced AI models, image and video generation, file\u00a0upload\u00a0and analysis, etc.)\u00a0and Max users will get access to Comet Plus automatically.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI search startup Perplexity is making its new Comet browser available to everyone in the world for free\u00a0as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[365,28052,363,364,22669,111,139,69,6031,47517,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-56596","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-browser","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-comet","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-perplexity","17":"tag-perplexity-ai","18":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}