CEO Aravind Srinivas Reveals Plans to Mirror Google’s Data-Driven Empire with New Browser
- Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas announced on the TBPN podcast that the company is developing a browser named Comet to track users’ online activities outside its app, aiming to build detailed user profiles for premium, hyper-personalized advertising.
- Following in the footsteps of tech giants like Google and Meta, Perplexity is also expanding its reach through mobile partnerships with Motorola and potential deals with Samsung, embedding its AI app into devices to capture more user data.
- While Srinivas believes users will welcome relevant ads, his candid admission comes amid growing public distrust of Big Tech’s data practices and ongoing legal battles, such as the U.S. Department of Justice’s case against Google over monopolistic behavior in search and advertising.
In a digital age where data is the new currency, Perplexity, an AI-driven search and information platform, is making a bold and somewhat controversial move to rival the titans of tech. CEO Aravind Srinivas recently appeared on the TBPN podcast and laid bare the company’s ambitious strategy: to build a browser that tracks everything users do online, far beyond the confines of its own app. Named Comet, this browser is designed not just as a tool for navigation but as a window into users’ lives—capturing data on their purchases, travel habits, dining preferences, and browsing patterns. The goal? To craft what Srinivas calls “hyper personalized” ads that could rival the precision of Google’s trillion-dollar advertising machine.
Srinivas didn’t shy away from the implications of this approach. “That’s kind of one of the other reasons we wanted to build a browser, is we want to get data even outside the app to better understand you,” he explained. He argued that work-related queries alone, often the focus of AI interactions, don’t paint a full picture of a user. Instead, it’s the personal details—where you’re staying, what you’re eating, what you’re browsing—that reveal the most. “What are the things you’re buying; which hotels are you going [to]; which restaurants are you going to; what are you spending time browsing, tells us so much more about you,” he elaborated. Through Comet, set to launch in May despite earlier setbacks, Perplexity plans to weave this data into a comprehensive user profile, potentially displaying tailored ads via its “discover feed.”
This strategy isn’t just about a browser. Perplexity is also making inroads into the mobile world, mirroring Google’s playbook of embedding itself into users’ daily digital interactions. On Thursday, the company announced a partnership with Motorola, ensuring that its app will come pre-installed on the Razr series and be accessible via Moto AI with a simple “Ask Perplexity” command. Additionally, Bloomberg reported that Perplexity is in discussions with Samsung for a similar arrangement. While Srinivas didn’t outright confirm the Samsung talks on the podcast, he did reference the Bloomberg article published earlier this month, hinting at the company’s expansive vision. These partnerships signal Perplexity’s intent to be omnipresent, much like Google with its Android operating system and Chrome browser.
Srinivas seems confident that users will embrace this level of tracking if the resulting ads are relevant enough. “We plan to use all the context to build a better user profile and, maybe you know, through our discover feed we could show some ads there,” he noted. And he’s not entirely wrong to draw inspiration from Google, a company that has quietly followed users across the internet to build a roughly $2 trillion market cap empire. Meta, too, leverages its Pixel tracking technology on countless websites to gather data on individuals, even those without Facebook or Instagram accounts. Even Apple, often heralded as a champion of privacy, tracks user locations by default in some apps to fuel its advertising efforts. Data collection, it seems, is the unspoken rule of the tech game.
Yet, this candid admission from Srinivas couldn’t come at a more ironic time. Public distrust of Big Tech’s data practices is at an all-time high, with concerns spanning the political spectrum in both the U.S. and Europe. People are increasingly wary of how their personal information is harvested and monetized, often without clear consent or understanding. Meanwhile, Google itself is embroiled in a high-stakes legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice, which accuses the tech giant of monopolistic behavior in search and online advertising. The DOJ is pushing for drastic measures, including a potential order to divest Chrome, Google’s flagship browser. Intriguingly, both OpenAI and Perplexity have expressed interest in acquiring Chrome’s browser business should such a divestiture occur—a move that aligns perfectly with Srinivas’s vision of data-driven dominance.
The broader implications of Perplexity’s strategy are worth pondering. On one hand, the promise of hyper-personalized ads could indeed enhance user experiences, delivering content and offers that feel uniquely relevant. On the other, the idea of a company openly tracking every online move—down to the hotels we book and the restaurants we visit—raises profound questions about privacy and autonomy in the digital realm. Srinivas’s transparency about Perplexity’s intentions is both refreshing and unsettling, especially against the backdrop of growing regulatory scrutiny and public backlash against Big Tech. As Comet prepares for its debut and partnerships with mobile giants take shape, Perplexity is positioning itself not just to compete with Google, but to become the next Google. Whether users will accept this trade-off of privacy for personalization remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the battle for our data has entered a new, more overt chapter.