Is Perplexity the next Google?

AI·Fortune IntelligenceIs Perplexity the next Google?By Dave SmithBy Dave SmithEditor, U.S

NewsDave SmithEditor, U.S

NewsDave Smith is a writer and editor who previously has been published in Insider, Newsweek, ABC News, and USA TODAY.SEE FULL BIO Aravind Srinivas, cofounder and CEO of Perplexity, at Crunch Disrupt in San Francisco, Oct. 30, 2024.David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesPerplexity shocked both Silicon Valley and Wall Street this week after the Wall Street Journal reported on the AI startup’s unsolicited $34.5 billion all-cash offer to buy Chrome, the world’s most web browser

The move comes just weeks after Perplexity launched its own AI-powered Comet browser, and as a federal judge considers whether Google must divest Chrome after the giant lost a landmark antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice

Comet, which Perplexity tells Fortune will become available for all Perplexity users starting Wednesday, has several advantages over Chrome

Un Google’s web browser, where most AI features arrive via add-ons or extensions, Comet’s AI assistant is always present, staying in the top-right corner of your browser window

It can summarize content instantly, compare information across tabs (a huge time-r for shopping), automate workflows (booking meetings, sending s, etc.), remind you events, and much more

Chrome only recently added limited AI features Gemini, the Google Lens sidebar, and “tab compare,” but these remain add-ons and do not offer end-to-end automation or context tracking Comet’s agentic AI

Comet feels poised to transform browsing as we know it into more of a conversational experience, where you interact with your browser to move as fast as your brain allows

But Perplexity’s blockbuster move this week raises an important question: If Perplexity absorbs Chrome, could it become the next Google? Perplexity’s play? Going beyond ‘’ Thomas Grange, cofounder and chief innovation officer at AI- optimization platform Botify, says “There won’t be a ‘next Google.’” “The game has changed,” he tells Fortune. “What’s emerging from the blend of AI and traditional browsers isn’t just a faster engine, it’s an entirely new hyper-personalized, context-aware, and conversational way of finding information.” Grange says the mise of AI engines is having AI agents act on behalf of users, interacting with other agents and transforming web browsing into something much more efficient and automated

Perplexity’s Comet browser, which debuted last month and is rolling out to all users starting this week, exemplifies this shift

Un traditional browsers, Comet puts an AI answer engine at the heart of its interface, allowing users to ask questions and get direct answers rather than having to wade through a list of links

Above all, the assistant can act on behalf of users—aiming to make browsing less and more ductivity

Usha Haley, Wichita State University fessor and Barton Distinguished Chair in International , says Perplexity’s bid for Chrome “looks far less audacious once you try Comet.” “A persistent AI assistant that can operate on any web page changes the web from a place to navigate to one that works for you

Adding Chrome’s massive user base and browser dominance could give Perplexity a once-in-a-generation leap in distribution,” she tells Fortune

But, she notes, “the next Google presents a very high bar.” But while Perplexity can buy part of Google’s ecosystem (Chrome), scaling to Google’s level of infrastructure, reach, and trust will be extremely challenging. “AI-powered browsers do well at some limited tasks

But the road from wow demo to everyday habit is long and winding,” she says

Redefining how we use the internet Joshua McKenty, former NASA architect and CEO of cybersecurity company Polyguard, tells Fortune: “The acquisition of Chrome by any player, but especially by a major AI player, is extremely significant. “Chrome represents one of the most powerful sources of new training data in existence—especially if it is decoupled from the Google experience,” he adds. “The browser is the only scraping method that can travel behind every log-in and every firewall to index … literally everything.” Of course, not everyone is convinced Perplexity will become the next Google—or that it would even be allowed to have Chrome

Ari Paparo, a former Google executive, tells Fortune, “We need to understand that the DOJ and the courts are not going to blindly empower a new monopoly just to replace the one they are up. “AI is both hungry for the data a web browser accesses, but also becomes more useful to the consumer as it has the context of what they are doing,” Paparo says. “Whether it is Perplexity, OpenAI, or one of the legacy giants that ends up as an owner of Chrome, it will be a huge change in the ecosystem.” Haley also highlights privacy and reliability as key challenges as scale, reliability, and user trust are critical for any challenger of Google to move beyond a “wow demo” moment

But Eric Vaughan, CEO of the AI-focused enterprise-software company Ignite, says Perplexity can win by “eliminating the concept of entirely.” “The real disruption here is less imving results and more bypassing websites altogether,” he tells Fortune

What happens next? Perplexity, which is backed by Nvidia and SoftBank, among others, says funding is available, but its offer for Chrome undoubtedly faces major regulatory, financial, and nical hurdles

To be blunt, Perplexity’s offer for Chrome is a long shot. (For one thing, Google parent Alphabet isn’t willingly selling.) The San Francisco–based startup has only a tiny fraction of the number of users that Google has, and an infinitesimal of its revenue

What’s more, rivals in the AI space are working on their own AI web browsers

Microsoft’s Edge browser now has Copilot Mode, which, Perplexity’s Comet, can see and analyze open tabs, execute autonomous tasks such as booking reservations, respond to voice commands, summarize content in real time, and more—but notably, it’s free and tightly integrated with Microsoft’s ecosystem

But Perplexity’s original AI-based tool has already been credited by many in with pressuring its rivals Google to upgrade and rethink their own apach to

Whether or not a Perplexity-Chrome tie-up actually happens, the emergence of AI-powered browsers has set the stage for found industry change

Barry Lowenthal, president of AI-powered ads company Inuvo, says, “Google has been the default engine for so long it is practically a reflex, but AI-powered tools Perplexity are changing that equation. “If Chrome joins the mix, the potential reach and usability skyrocket,” he tells Fortune. “But becoming the next Google is not just nology, it is winning trust, habit, and scale

That is a long game, and right now Perplexity is just starting to play it.” For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft

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