Perplexity's Comet can now handle complex online tasks across tabs
What's the story
Perplexity has announced a major update to its Comet Assistant, an AI tool designed to simplify online tasks. The revamped version can now handle complex tasks, work across multiple browser tabs, and interact with websites more effectively. The update is aimed at improving the assistant's performance in everyday web activities such as job searches, travel planning, and data entry.
Enhanced capabilities
Multi-tab functionality
The most notable improvement in the updated Comet Assistant is its ability to work across multiple tabs at once. This means it can extract information from one site and use it on another without requiring users to switch between pages. For example, it can now populate a spreadsheet with data collected from various sites, a task that previously required constant manual switching.
Improved efficiency
Handling longer tasks
The new Comet Assistant can now handle longer, multi-step tasks without giving up midway. In internal tests, it performed about 23% better than its predecessor. The assistant can also handle tasks like searching LinkedIn for specific job roles, comparing flight prices across several travel sites, or building a Google Sheet to track attendance or expenses.
Enhanced navigation
Improved navigation and user control
The updated Comet Assistant can now better understand and navigate complex websites, enabling it to understand more types of pages and complete web-based actions more accurately. The update also gives users more control over what Comet can access. Before taking any browser action, such as clicking a button or entering data, Comet now asks for permission from the user.
User empowerment
A new era for AI assistants
With these updates, Perplexity is positioning Comet browser as a tool that does more than just answer questions. It can now take action on the web. The new version is designed to help users finish online tasks faster and with less manual effort, from everyday chores to more detailed research work. This marks a major shift in how AI assistants are expected to interact with users and perform tasks on their behalf.