(Reuters) -Nvidia-backed Perplexity AI said on Wednesday it has launched Comet, a new web browser with AI-powered search capabilities, as the startup looks to challenge the dominance of market leader Alphabet's Google Chrome.

The launch marks Perplexity AI's entry into the competitive browser market, aiming to replace traditional navigation with agentic AI that can think, act, and decide on behalf of users.

Google Chrome held a commanding 68% share of the global browser market in June, according to StatCounter, cementing its position as the world's most widely used browser-far ahead of Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.

Comet enables users to ask questions, perform tasks, and conduct research in a single, unified interface. The browser integrates a built-in assistant that can compare products, summarize content, book meetings, and transform complex workflows into simple, conversational experiences.

Comet is currently available to subscribers who pay $200 per month for Perplexity Max, with broader access rolling out via invite over the summer.

Backed by high-profile investors like Jeff Bezos, SoftBank, and Nvidia, Perplexity is leveraging the launch of Comet to directly challenge incumbents such as Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Edge, while also exploring new revenue streams in advertising and e-commerce.

Last year, OpenAI added a search engine to ChatGPT and recently made the service available to all of its users. Google also introduced an AI-powered search feature, called AI Overviews, last May.

Comet stores data locally and avoids model training on personal information-a move likely to appeal to privacy-conscious users.

However, the company has come under criticism from media organizations such as News Corp-owned outlets, Forbes and Wired, and Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones for using their content without consent or compensation. Perplexity has responded by launching a publisher partnership program to collaborate with news outlets.