At the recent Bloomberg Tech Summit, Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivas announced that the AI search engine received 780 million queries in May, with a notable growth rate of over 20% month-over-month. This significant increase in queries is a testament to the platform’s rapidly expanding user base.

Srinivas expressed his optimism about the future growth prospects of Perplexity, stating that if the current growth rate is sustained, the platform could be handling around a billion queries per week within a year. He highlighted the impressive growth trajectory, from 3,000 queries on the first day of 2022 to 30 million queries per day currently.

The CEO also mentioned that the upcoming Comet browser, currently in development, is expected to contribute to this growth trajectory. By integrating AI capabilities into the browser, Perplexity aims to increase user retention and attract new users who are looking for alternatives to traditional browsers like Chrome.

Srinivas explained that the primary goal of developing Comet is to transition the role of AI from providing answers to performing actions on behalf of the user. This would enable users to complete tasks more efficiently, with AI handling entire browsing sessions with a single prompt.

To achieve this, Perplexity is rethinking the traditional browser architecture, aiming to create a seamless hybrid of client-side and server-side computing. The company envisions Comet as a “cognitive operating system” rather than just another browser, designed to be a constant companion for users in their online activities.

Srinivas emphasized that Comet will be an integral part of users’ online lives, providing proactive and personalized AI assistance. He believes that this will fundamentally change the way people interact with the internet, shifting from mere browsing to living and working online.

Although details about Comet are still scarce, Srinivas previously mentioned that one of the reasons for developing the browser is to track user activity and sell hyper-personalized ads, similar to Google’s business model. This approach is expected to generate significant revenue for Perplexity.

The exact launch date of Comet has not been announced, but Srinivas hinted that it will be released within the coming weeks. He also mentioned on social media that the browser will have features like native virtual meeting recording, transcription, and search functionality, although these may not be available in the initial release.