On Thursday (October 2nd), Perplexity AI announced that its AI-powered web browser, Comet, is available worldwide and will be free to users.

According to Perplexity, the Comet browser is designed as a personal assistant that can search the web, organize tabs, draft emails, shop, and more. The company initially launched Comet in July to Perplexity Max users for $200 per month, and the waitlist has ballooned to "millions" of people, the company said.

Perplexity's decision to offer Comet for free will help it attract more users as it fights to fend off competitors like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, which have their own AI browsers.

In September, Google launched Gemini within its Chrome browser; in August, Anthropic released a browser-based AI agent; and in January, OpenAI launched Operator, an agent that uses the browser to complete tasks. In August, Perplexity made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid to acquire Google's Chrome browser.

Perplexity is known for its AI-powered search engine, which provides users with simple answers to questions and links to original sources on the web. After being accused of plagiarizing media content, the company launched a revenue-sharing model with publishers last year.

The company also launched Comet Plus in August, a subscription service that provides users with content from "trusted publishers and journalists," according to a blog post. On Tuesday (September 30), Perplexity announced that CNN, Condé Nast, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Le Monde, and Le Figaro are its first publishing partners.

Perplexity said additional features are in development. The company demonstrated a mobile version of Comet and a feature called Background Assistant, which can handle multiple tasks simultaneously and asynchronously.