Perplexity Makes $200 AI Browser Free to Fight Internet ‘Slop’

Perplexity AI announced on Thursday that its AI-powered web browser Comet is now available globally and free to all users, after initially charging $200 a month for access.

The company said the move is aimed at countering what it calls the rise of “slop,” which is low-quality content created by both humans and AI flooding the internet, as reported by Business Insider. “We want to build a better internet, and that needs to be accessible to everybody,” CEO Aravind Srinivas told Business Insider at the launch event in San Francisco.

Comet, first launched in July for Perplexity Max subscribers, functions as a personal AI assistant, as noted by CNBC. The tool enables users to search the web and summarize pages, organize tabs, draft emails, shop online, and navigate through links. While the browser is now free, Srinivas clarified that the version will come with usage limits, as reported by Business Insider.

The release puts Perplexity into direct competition with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, all of which are pushing their own AI browser tools, as noted by CNBC.

Google recently added Gemini to Chrome, while OpenAI launched Operator earlier this year. Perplexity previously made headlines when it submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Chrome, though the U.S. government allowed Google to keep its browser in a monopoly case.

Perplexity also announced Comet Plus, a $5 monthly subscription that grants access to premium content from publishers such as CNN, The Washington Post, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, and Condé Nast. The company says publishers will receive 80% of subscription revenue, as reported by Business Insider.

“I think slop is fundamentally going to be easier to create now, and it’s going to be hard to distinguish if something is AI or human on the internet,” Srinivas said, as reported by Business Insider.