Latest news with #PerplexityAI
NBC News
a day ago
- Business
- NBC News
AI-powered web browsers want to help people save time. But are they effective?
First they took care of your writing. Now, artificial intelligence systems are looking to do your web browsing for you. A new slate of AI-powered web browsers have come onto the scene, as AI companies look for more ways to integrate their tools into daily life. Perplexity AI's web browser, Comet, launched on Wednesday to much fanfare from some tech circles, as early users tested out its capabilities. It enters a crowded space, which includes products like Dia, Google's Gemini in Chrome, and a reported upcoming browser from ChatGPT creator, OpenAI. Perplexity touts Comet, available only to those on the company's $200-per-month tier, as a 'thought partner' that helps users accomplish tasks without having to do the work of actually browsing. In tests, NBC News found that the browser can book reservations, prepare online purchases and plan a full vacation. But the process wasn't as seamless as it appears in the demos. The browser is part of an escalating race to advance AI agents, or AI systems that can make decisions and take action on a user's behalf. When users chat with a tool like Claude or ChatGPT, they type a question and get a response, but they still need to decide what to do with the answer. An AI agent, however, will send questions directly to the browser and even generate new ones based on its knowledge about you and make decisions proactively. A browser-native AI might try to learn your routine; for example, when you eat lunch. When lunchtime arrives, it can automatically order one of your favorite meals or even reserve a table at your favorite restaurant. Comet opens to Perplexity's AI search engine and its AI operates in a sidebar. In tests conducted by NBC News, Comet was able to assist in tasks like applying to jobs, buying a new outfit and booking a gym visit. But it often required intervention from the user, largely due to privacy restrictions that prevent it from accessing and inputting personal information without a human taking the final steps. When trying to make a purchase online, for example, the Comet assistant stated that it can't directly conduct any transactions, though it offered to assist in other ways, such as tracking down deals or comparing products. It can also add items to the user's cart. 'For your privacy and security, I cannot accept, process, or store any personal or payment information, and I am not able to complete transactions or purchases on your behalf,' the assistant wrote. 'This policy protects your sensitive data and ensures safe, responsible use of this assistant.' And when asking the browser assistant to apply to a job on Indeed, it navigated to the site, selected a job and started the application process — though it needed the user to log into the site on their own. It then told the user, 'You will still need to review and submit any application yourself, especially if the application requires personal details or verification steps that only you can provide.' The browser did, however, successfully book a gym tour — with some extra prodding. When first asked to book the tour, Comet claimed a visit had been scheduled. When pushed for confirmation, it revealed that it had only landed on a 'placeholder or a pre-selection' page. Asking it to book again prompted the assistant to request the required information from the user before filling out and submitting the form in real time within the browser. Comet also appears capable of understanding multiple tabs at once. When asked to compare a selection of gyms based on the user's open tabs, it produced a chart comparing membership prices of the gyms whose websites were open in the browser. Perplexity says the browser will roll out to additional users over the summer through an invite-based system before eventually becoming free for use. AI agents have become more common on the internet this year as companies have added the tools to their websites. Expedia's AI travel agent is already capable of planning itineraries and booking trips. And Walmart in June launched an AI shopping assistant that can make recommendations and, soon, will help shoppers reorder products or book services. The agents arrive as adoption of generative AI surpassed adoption of the internet and personal computers at similar points of their development. It is also winning over key consumer demographics: trust in AI was 60% among individuals ages 18 to 24 and 62% among those earning over $100,000 a year, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick survey. Some expect artificial intelligence to replace search engines, with Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue testifying that Google searches fell in Safari for the first time in history in April 2025 and linking that drop to AI. In its efforts to keep up with the AI web revolution, Google has rolled out an 'AI Mode' in its search engine and now offers its Gemini assistant as an add-on in Chrome. But Comet more broadly integrates its AI functions into the default web interface.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Perplexity's engineers use 2 AI coding tools, and they've cut development time from days to hours
Perplexity AI's founder said he has seen a dramatic difference in engineering productivity with AI coding tools. Aravind Srinivas, who is also the search engine's CEO,said at a Y Combinator event in June that the company has "made it mandatory" for employees to use at least one AI coding tool. That usually means using Cursor or GitHub Copilot, or a mix of both. For engineers, using these tools to prototype has reduced "the experimentation time from three, four days to literally one hour," said Srinivas in a conversation that was uploaded to YC's YouTube channel on Friday. That speed isn't limited to hardcore algorithm work. Srinivas said non-technical colleagues are changing interfaces quickly with these tools. "I just give them feedback where I take a screenshot of my iOS app, and I say, 'This button needs to move here with an arrow,'" he said. "They upload my screenshot to Cursor and then ask it to write a change to the Swift UI file," he added. "That level of change is incredible," he said. "The speed at which you can fix bugs and ship to production is crazy." But Srinivas also said that these tools are not perfect — they can introduce new bugs that people don't know how to fix. Srinivas and Perplexity did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. AI coding tools are going mainstream AI coding tools are gaining traction across the tech industry. Last month, Business Insider reported that job listings from Visa, Reddit, DoorDash, and a slew of startups showed that the companies explicitly required experience or familiarity with tools like Cursor and Bolt. A recent survey also shed light on the explosive growth and impact of these tools in software development, Business Insider's Alistair Barr exclusively reportedearlier this month. Jellyfish, which helps companies manage developer teams, found that 90% of engineering teams are now using AI in their workflows, up from 61% just one year ago. About 48% of respondents reported using two or more AI coding tools, suggesting teams are taking a diversified, exploratory approach. The survey in May polled 645 full-time professionals in engineering roles, from individual contributors to managers and executives. Respondents came from companies ranging from small teams with fewer than 10 people to large enterprises with over 500 engineers. A few industry leaders also said the AI coding hype comes with trade-offs. GitHub's CEO, Thomas Dohmke, said using AI coding tools might slow down experienced engineers. On a podcast episode released in June, he said a worst-case scenario is when a developer is forced to provide feedback in natural language when they already know how to do it in a programming language. That would be "basically replacing something that I can do in three seconds with something that might potentially take three minutes or even longer," Dohmke said. OpenAI's cofounder Greg Brockman also said using these tools has left humans with the less enjoyable parts of coding. He said the state of AI coding had left humans to review and deploy code, which is "not fun at all."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dan Ives Says Apple (AAPL) Must Acquire Perplexity—Here's Why It's a ‘No-Brainer'
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:) is one of the . On July 9, Wedbush reiterated its 'Outperform' rating on the stock and maintained its price target at $270.00. The rating affirmation reflects continued confidence in Apple's potential. According to the firm, Apple should make the move to acquire Perplexity AI Inc. so that it can strengthen its artificial intelligence offerings. Analyst Dan Ives noted the potential acquisition to be a 'no-brainer.' Ives noted how major tech giants such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, and Oracle are engaged in an 'arms race' to monetize AI. Ives said this race is notably 'the biggest tech trend in the last 50 years.' Even though Apple boasts 'the biggest and most entrenched consumer installed base in the world with 2.4 billion iOS devices and 1.5 billion iPhones,' the tech giant is still falling behind in this race. Apple's internal efforts for developing Apple Intelligence have been nothing less than disappointing. There were no major announcements made at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) either, which massively disappointed investors and most importantly developers.' 'The time has come Apple needs to acquire Perplexity to significantly boost its AI platform.' According to Ives, the acquisition could help 'redefine Apple's AI strategy and would fit in very well with Siri.' Even though Apple may need to pay up around $30 billion for the acquisition, Ives believes this is only 'a drop in the bucket relative to the monetization opportunity.' Apple is a technology company known for its consumer electronics, particularly the iPhones and MacBooks. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Tom's Guide
4 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I used Perplexity AI to plan my next trip — here's how you can too
Planning a trip abroad is only as stressful as you make it. If you're tight on time and don't want to watch lengthy travel vlogs or fall down research rabbit holes, Perplexity AI is proving useful to millions of travelers. Earlier this year, Tripadvisor and Perplexity announced a partnership which gives the chatbot access to more than one billion reviews and contributions. With the right prompts you'll be able to make the most out of all that information so that instead of simply relying on suggestions written by people you don't know, you can tell Perplexity what you'd actually enjoy doing. If you're one of the 1.5 million people flying from the US to Japan this summer, why not also use AI to make your experience extra memorable? Perplexity Co-Founder Johnny Ho revealed travel is a top search category for users of his AI chatbot. It's easy to see why. With a dedicated AI travel section and a user experience that matches that of the best chatbots you've used so far, Perplexity will surely make planning your next vacation abroad a breeze. To get travel advice you'd actually want to follow using Perplexity, this is exactly what you need to do. To get started you'll want to sign in to your Perplexity account. If you don't have an account yet, you can get started for free with your existing Google or Apple accounts. Alternatively, you can register using your email address and a sign-in code will be automatically sent to your inbox. Once you're logged in, you'll want to head straight to Perplexity Travel. You can access the section using the new thread button represented by a plus symbol. Then click on the travel tab in the sidebar. In Perplexity Travel you'll have the opportunity to create your own adventure or let yourself be inspired by a curated selection of travel guides. To access one of the ready-made pieces, scroll down to the Trending Destinations and Inspiration sections and click on your desired experience. If you've already made up your mind about where you want to travel to and want to create your own custom guide, then this is where the prompt box comes in. Like all other major Chatbots, simply type in your prompt and click submit. One way to use Perplexity Travel is to ask it to act as a boutique travel agent. In this way, it will ask you relevant questions that will help it create a travel itinerary that you'd actually enjoy. An example of a prompt you can use is: You are a boutique travel agent focused on curating immersive cultural travel experiences. You will be creating a 7-day itinerary for a young couple visiting Tokyo for the first time. They don't speak Japanese. Create a short list of questions that will help you plan an experience they'd truly enjoy. Once you've had a chat with Perplexity about your interests and special requests, you can request a curated itinerary which includes tips about accommodation, food, and transport. Perplexity started by recommending a hotel and it went on to provide me with a 7-day itinerary. It suggested morning, afternoon, and evening activities along with restaurant options. If you're curious to know where Perplexity Travel is basing its recommendations on, you'll find a handy list of sources you can browse through. For my Tokyo guide I saw that it was pulling information from all the right places including Tripadvisor, Viator, and Expedia. This information is available in the sources tab. For a more precise look at how Perplexity handled your request, you can even have a look at the steps it took to create your travel plan. It shows how the information was obtained, along with the search queries it used. To view all this, simply click on the steps tab. Now you've learned how to use Perplexity as your own travel agent, why not take a look at our other useful AI articles? Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Check out I tested 5 custom GPTs — skip the rest and try these today and you're not using ChatGPT right unless you ask these 4 questions. And if you're interesting in creating the best images in Gemini, don't miss this article.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia reaches $4trn market cap amid tech stock revival
Nvidia has reached a $4trn market capitalisation, marking a significant milestone in the tech industry amid a revival of Wall Street technology stocks. The Silicon Valley chipmaker's shares increased by up to 2.8% on Wednesday, reaching a high of $164.42, reported The Financial Times. This surge allowed Nvidia to achieve the milestone but eventually settled at a market value of $3.97trn, surpassing Apple's previous record of $3.92trn. Nvidia's stock has climbed 40% since early May 2025, influenced by an easing in US-China trade tensions and significant chip agreements in the Middle East. Its dominance in supplying chips for AI services, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, has been a critical factor in this surge. The company's CEO Jensen Huang has been expressing confidence in the long-term potential of AI and robotics to generate significant revenue. In a recent statement, Huang noted that advancements in AI and increased demand are accelerating growth, as evidenced by a 70% increase in quarterly revenues. Nvidia's trajectory began over two years ago when it surpassed a $1trn valuation following the launch of ChatGPT, which heightened interest from major technology firms and AI start-ups. Nvidia reached valuations of $2trn in February 2024 and $3trn in June 2024. However, the firm encountered challenges at the start of this year due to uncertainties about sustained chip demand and concerns over US tariffs and curbs on exports to China. The chipmaker faced further issues when Chinese company DeepSeek launched a model claiming reduced computing resource requirements compared to competitors like OpenAI. Additionally, in April 2025, Nvidia was notified about export license requirements for its H20 AI chips for the Chinese market, resulting in a $4.5bn charge related to excess inventory and purchase commitments. Nevertheless, Nvidia projects its revenue will approach $200bn in 2025, with net income estimated at $105bn according to S&P Capital IQ analysts. In financial results for fiscal 2026's first quarter announced in May 2025, Nvidia reported $44.1bn in revenue, marking a 12% quarterly increase and a 69% annual rise. Despite these figures, new export controls are expected to continue impacting revenue into the second quarter. Meanwhile, Perplexity AI, an Nvidia-backed startup, has unveiled Comet, a web browser featuring AI-enhanced search capabilities. This product aims to challenge Google's Chrome and signifies Perplexity AI's entry into the competitive browser market with its AI-driven technology. "Nvidia reaches $4trn market cap amid tech stock revival" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
