AI startup Perplexity is plotting a bold move to challenge Chrome and Safari’s dominance by pitching Comet to phone giants for pre-installation.
Perplexity AI is in talks with major smartphone manufacturers to preload its AI-powered browser, Comet, on upcoming devices. This move targets industry titans like Samsung and Apple, whose devices dominate the mobile market share.
If Perplexity secures these preload deals, it will place Comet in direct competition with Google Chrome and Apple Safari. Notably, these giant browsers command 94% of the global mobile browser market. The stakes are high for Perplexity’s Comet — but so is the ambition.
From Google’s Rejection to Going Solo
The push for Comet came after a setback when Google declined to list Perplexity as a default search engine option on Chrome. That decision prompted CEO Aravind Srinivas to build an independent browser experience.
Although Srinivas acknowledges that Chrome and Safari have a strong grip. He mentioned to Reuters,
"It’s not easy to convince mobile OEMs to change the default browser to Comet from Chrome."
Still, Srinivas firmly believes that history might be repeating itself. That’s also because Google’s early success came from bundling Chrome into Android — a strategy Srinivas hopes to replicate for the AI-first era.
What Makes Comet Different?
Unlike traditional browsers, Comet brings an agentic layer to the browsing experience. Still in beta and currently desktop-only, it integrates Perplexity’s AI directly into the browser UI, allowing users to input queries for personal data, such as emails or calendars, summarize pages, and even schedule meetings.
Srinivas revealed that after stabilizing the product for a few hundred thousand testers, Perplexity plans to scale Comet to “tens to hundreds of millions” of users next year. This positions Comet as a digital co-pilot baked into the browsing workflow.
A Bigger Trend: Browsers Powered by AI Agents
This move aligns with a broader industry shift. As MobileAppDaily reported earlier this month, OpenAI is developing its agentic browser, which can perform complex tasks such as travel booking or finance management, signaling an AI browser race already in motion.
If Perplexity succeeds in securing deals with Apple or Samsung, it could mark the beginning of AI-native browsers replacing traditional search and interface models across mobile devices.
