If you use AI-based search engines, then you most likely know about Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine designed to provide factual, source-backed answers to its users.
They have been making waves in the AI space alongside the other established outfits like OpenAI, Anthropic, etc., with their upcoming AI-powered web browser, Comet, set to be the next big launch.
It is expected to be a Chromium-based web browser with capabilities like agentic search, hybrid AI processing (local+cloud), support for multiple large language models (LLMs), and more.
Sadly, as is too common with these AI-infused products, there is something Orwellian about the Comet that was revealed recently.
Perplexity Comet: A User Data Collection Tool?
In a podcast with TBPN (timestamp is 43:19), the CEO of Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, mentioned that one of the reasons why they wanted to build a web browser was to collect data on everything users do outside of Perplexity to better understand them.
He further added that the prompts many people enter into their search engine are mostly surrounding work-related tasks and not all that personal.
If they have access to what people are buying, which hotels they are staying at, which restaurants they are eating at, and what things they are looking up online. It tells them more about the person's habits and preferences.
What do they want with all that personally identifiable information (PII), you ask?
Serve advertisements, of course. 🙃
Aravind puts it this way:
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.
Do you see the big implications for privacy if sensitive user data, like the kind collected through a web browser, isn’t handled properly, right?
Aravind is banking on the idea that Perplexity users won’t mind the invasive tracking, as it would lead to more relevant ads being served to them.
Anyhow, I'm still unsure how all of this will play out in the end. Comet's launch has faced some roadblocks, causing delays, but Aravind mentions they’re now aiming for a mid-May release.
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