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Perplexity, an AI-focused company, revealed plans in February to create its own web browser, Comet. In a recent interview on the TBPN podcast, CEO Aravind Srinivas explained the reasoning behind this new venture, emphasizing the importance of gathering user data to enhance targeted advertising.
“One of our motivations for developing a browser is to collect data beyond just our app in order to better understand our users,” Srinivas noted. He further elaborated that this information would aid in constructing more comprehensive user profiles, potentially allowing the company to integrate advertisements into their discovery feed.
This strategy may echo that of Google’s Chrome browser, which has similarly aimed to leverage user data for advertising purposes. Notably, Comet is built on Chromium, the open-source framework that powers Chrome. This connection raises questions about the future of both browsers, particularly in light of recent legal proceedings concerning Google’s dominance in online search. In these ongoing discussions, Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko remarked that he believes Perplexity could successfully operate Comet at its current capacity. However, he expressed reservations about the prospect of OpenAI acquiring Chrome, indicating potential competitive tensions in the browser market.
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www.engadget.com