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Perplexity AI has officially launched Comet, its AI-powered browser, and an Email Assistant tool for premium users in a calculated move to deepen its footprint in India’s booming tech market. But there’s a catch: access is currently gated, and the rollout comes with promises and caveats. Perplexity AI Brings lunaches AI Browser & Email Assistant to India: A New AI Frontier for Browsing & Inbox Management.
Here’s a deep dive into these tools, how they work, cost, and what they mean for Indian users.
What Are Comet & Email Assistant?
Comet Browser
- Comet is billed as an AI-centric browser built on Chromium (the same engine behind Chrome and Edge)
- It offers a departure from traditional tabbed browsing: instead of juggling multiple tabs, Comet uses a workspace model—a unified environment where context is preserved across tasks.
- A key component is the Comet Assistant sidebar: always accessible, this agentic AI can help with multi-step tasks such as summarisation, navigation, scheduling, comparing prices, automating parts of web interactions, and composing emails.
- It also tracks user interactions (what’s read, what’s active, what’s searched) to give real-time content recommendations.
- Privacy features are emphasized: Comet stores browsing history and AI interactions locally with end-to-end encryption by default, and integrates with password managers.
Email Assistant
- Complementing Comet, the Email Assistant is a dedicated tool for managing a user’s inbox. It can prioritize, schedule, draft replies, and route emails according to the user’s or system’s instructions.
- It currently supports Gmail and Outlook accounts.
- The system is designed not to use the content of emails to train models (to protect privacy) but to adapt to the user’s writing style.
India Launch: Who Gets Access & When
Rollout & Access
- In India, Comet is available immediately for Pro subscribers on Windows and macOS.
- For Android, the browser is on pre-order via Google Play; iOS support is expected later.
- The Email Assistant is only reserved for Max plan users (a higher tier).
- This isn’t a free or public launch — access is gated behind subscription tiers. As Hindustan Times puts it, “there’s a proviso, for now.”
Cost & Plans
- The Email Assistant is included only in the Max plan, priced at about USD 200 per month.
- The Pro plan (which includes Comet) is a paid tier already in existence with Perplexity.
India-Specific Strategy
- Perplexity has strategically partnered with Bharti Airtel to provide millions of Airtel customers with complimentary access to Perplexity Pro for a year. This is likely aimed at bootstrapping adoption.
- Perplexity also expands hiring in India, signaling a commitment to local growth.
Strengths, Challenges & Open Questions
Strengths & Opportunities
- Task-driven browsing: The shift from “just searching” to “working with AI as a thinking partner” is bold, especially in productivity-heavy workflows (research, reading, email, shopping).
- Integrated tooling: A browser and email assistant in a cohesive stack are powerful; they can reduce friction between information gathering and communication.
- Localizing in a high-potential market: India offers a large, digitally engaged user base, with a growing appetite for AI tools.
- Privacy-centric promises: Storing data locally, using end-to-end encryption, and not training on private emails are essential in an era of data concerns.
Challenges & Risks
- Subscription barrier: Limiting Comet to paying users (Pro/Max) reduces early adoption among casual users.
- Competition & incumbents: Giants like Google and Microsoft may incorporate similar agentic features into their browsers or email clients.
- Regulation, publishers, and copyright: A browser that scrapes, summarizes, and acts across the web may attract opposition from content owners and regulators.
- User trust & reliability: For AI agents to make transactions, draft replies, or act autonomously, users need high trust; errors or misjudgments can harm confidence.
- Platform support and fragmentation: iOS support is pending, and Android is still in the pre-order stage. This limits reach in a mobile-first market like India.
- Pricing for the Indian audience: USD 200/month is steep for many Indian users; local pricing/tiers may need adjustment.
What This Means for Users & the Indian AI Ecosystem
- For power users (researchers, analysts, professionals), Comet + Email Assistant offers an attractive productivity boost.
- For general users, adoption may lag until pricing, mobile support, or feature tiers are more accessible.
- This raises the bar for competitors: standard browsers may need to evolve or acquire AI features to stay relevant.
- This will intensify debates among regulators and publishers on how AI agents interact with content across the open web.
- For the Indian AI sector, Perplexity’s bold push reinforces India as a testbed and launch market for advanced AI tools.
Summary
Perplexity’s launch of the Comet AI browser and Email Assistant in India highlights how AI is reshaping how we search, browse, and communicate. While the tools come with exciting features like task-based browsing, inbox automation, and privacy-first design, their adoption in India will depend on accessibility, affordability, and trust. This development reminds businesses and professionals that the future of work is moving toward AI-driven productivity. As a leading digital marketing company, we keep track of such innovations to help brands adapt faster, leverage new technologies, and stay ahead in a competitive digital landscape.
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