Aravind Srinivas, desi CEO and founder of Perplexity AI, has stated that the startup’s new AI browser, Comet, can boost productivity so significantly that companies can skip hiring new employees. He characterised the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered web browser as a ‘true personal assistant,’ allowing users to complete more tasks in the same amount of time. “Instead of hiring one more person on your team, you could just use Comet to supplement all the work that you’re doing,” Srinivas told CNBC in an interview.Comet functions by browsing the internet to assist with research and can asynchronously perform multiple tasks, with Srinivas noting, “It’s truly about delivering value and you being able to delegate tasks to it.”

Comet can help with productivity and financial gains

Srinivas estimated that the productivity gains from Comet could be worth $10,000 per year for a single person. He also believes the economic impact of such gains could be massive. Given that “human digital knowledge work” contributes around $25 trillion to the gross domestic product, he estimated that a 20% gain in productivity, facilitated by tools like Comet, could easily translate to $5 trillion in GDP growth.This comes as major tech companies continue to bolster their AI spending. Tech giants like Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet are collectively expected to spend as much as $320 billion on AI technologies and datacentre expansions in 2025, the report noted.Perplexity initially launched Comet in July to users of its premium Perplexity Max subscription ($200 per month), quickly garnering a waitlist of millions of people. The browser was made available to download for free globally last week.