A flurry of AI startups are changing the way we search the web and in the process threatening Google’s search dominance in the biggest way since its meteoric rise in the late ‘90s.
This week, Perplexity, a San Francisco-based startup most recently valued at $14 billion, launched its own AI-enabled web browser for select subscribers. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is also working on an AI web browser of its own, reported Reuters.
These AI web browsers directly aim at Google’s dominance over search, especially through its popular Google Chrome web browser, and have the potential to upend the industry as we know it by reimagining the search experience, said Steve Jang, the founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures, which was an early investor in Perplexity.
“Every tech cycle, everyone questions whether or not a new startup can—how can they possibly defeat or even get significant market share away from these legacy platforms, and they always do,” he told Fortune.
Perplexity’s AI browser, Comet, for instance, comes with Perplexity’s AI chatbot pre-installed to replace searches. It also includes an AI agent called Comet Assistant, which the company claims can automatically book a meeting or send an email, buy something for you, and brief you on what you need to know for the day.
The entry of these AI products may also be timely and could take advantage of a “window of opportunity,” as Google faces an uncertain future thanks to the impending remedies resulting from its antitrust case, said Ari Paparo, a former director of product management of advertiser products at Google. One such remedy could include spinning off the Chrome web browser that the AI upstarts are trying to compete with.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Still, it’s unclear how the search market will ultimately pan out as a result of the new entrants. Google Chrome, for its part, still has an advantage because of its established reach of more than 3 billion users, about 68% of the market, and the massive amount of user data it collects—then there’s the friction involved with switching browsers, a challenge in itself.
But in terms of AI usage, OpenAI is already competing head-to-head with Google. Twenty-nine percent of consumers say they use OpenAI regularly, versus 30% who say they use Google’s Gemini, according to a recent survey by Wedbush.
Paparo said the technology from AI web browsers needs to be significantly better to convince consumers to switch products.
“What is it that a browser from Perplexity or a browser from OpenAI will do that’ll be 10 times better than what Google does? They already have search, they already have AI, they already have the browser. That’s a pretty tough hill to climb,” Paparo told Fortune.
What’s worse, the AI-enabled Comet, like most other AI platforms, is in some cases still prone to hallucinations, TechCrunch reported.
Still, Jang, the VC, said he is still confident the Perplexity team is set up to make major strides. Apart from Comet, the company has also previously launched a mobile app with voice capability and its own take on supercharged AI agents with Perplexity Labs.
While Google may be the giant in search, Perplexity is the eager upstart looking for an opening, he said.
“Monopolies in technology are great opportunities for startups, and by design they are meant to be attacked,” he added.
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