Generative AI is the transformative know-how of the second. Instruments like ChatGPT are serving to folks notice the facility of AI by automating duties resembling writing and proofreading textual content, creating pictures and movies, and even fixing complicated issues–or, a minimum of, offering perception towards fixing an issue.
AI can also be altering one other routine process: shopping the net. Firms like Opera and Perplexity have been engaged on AI-based instruments referred to as agentic browsers. Agentic browsers are able to understanding the content material of an online web page in actual time and in addition utilizing AI to work together with the web page and run workflows for you.
Agentic browsers promise to vary the best way folks work together with the net. As an alternative of getting to fret about discovering issues by yourself, agentic browsers take management of all the things so you may concentrate on different duties. The promise sounds too good to be true, however do these browsers work in actual life?
I’m a long-time Safari person. It’s not one of the best net browser on the planet, but it surely’s undeniably the one which has the nicest integration with Apple platforms. Whereas Apple has been struggling to ship AI capabilities, I dove into testing two completely different agentic browsers to seek out out in the event that they’re actually sport changers and if they will persuade me to change.
Opera Neon and Perplexity Comet: Two agentic browsers
I used to be invited to check out two completely different agentic browsers: Opera Neon and Perplexity Comet. Each are at the moment accessible in a really restricted beta.
If you consider an online browser, there’s often a standard interface that involves thoughts. At first look, each Opera Neon and Perplexity Comet seem like one thing you’d count on from a browser, however with a contact of an AI assistant. Each have a ChatGPT-like interface the place customers can ask something.
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Right here’s the place they differ. As an alternative of looking on a traditional search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo, these browsers use their very own AI chatbot to reply your questions, so that you don’t must go to web sites to seek out one thing.
As an alternative of navigating to Google or an internet site to start out your shopping session, you ask the AI agent a query. It’s not a button like Copilot in Microsoft Edge—the browser is totally constructed round interacting with the AI engine to conduct searches, fill out varieties, guide journeys, and create net apps.
Opera Neon and Perplexity Comet: What it’s like to make use of them
To see what every browser responds to a question, I requested each browsers for the “newest iPhone 17 rumors.” Opera Neon generated a textual content about the primary rumors, whereas Perplexity Comet went a bit additional and mixed each AI outcomes with some hyperlinks to articles on the net about what I requested.
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Nonetheless, there’s much more you are able to do with these browsers than simply ask questions. Think about, for instance, that it is advisable to purchase flight tickets, however you’re not within the temper to open the airline’s web site and discover the flights by yourself. An agentic browser can handle that.
I requested each Perplexity Comet and Opera Neon to guide tickets for a selected route in September. I made it clear that I wished the most cost effective tickets potential. They each opened the airline’s web site and chosen the most cost effective fare. Spectacular, though Perplexity Comet didn’t proceed to checkout till I gave it one other command; Opera Neon did.
Opera Neon can even generate webpages and mini net apps for you. I requested it to make a web page evaluating all of the rumored iPhone 17 fashions, and it constructed one in lower than 5 minutes.
Agentic browsers can be utilized to automate mundane on-line duties, resembling reserving a flight.
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One factor I’ve realized from these AI-based browsers is that you could get higher outcomes by being extremely particular. When need them to purchase one thing with Safari, for instance, you may kind precisely what services or products you need (iPhone 16 Professional Max) to nearer to what you need,fairly than typing, “I need to purchase a brand new iPhone.”
It’s just a little completely different when utilizing AI brokers. Once I requested the browser to seek out me a resort in São Paulo, Brazil, that’s what it did. However after I requested it to “guide me a very good resort in São Paulo for September 17-18 and ensure you discover motels across the Jardins neighbourhood”, it took me straight to the checkout web page based mostly on what I requested.
Is reserving a ticket by yourself nonetheless sooner? Most likely. Each AI browsers took a number of minutes to finish probably the most complicated duties, throughout which era I might have searched alone. However once more, the primary level is to let the pc do the arduous be just right for you whilst you do one thing else. That is in all probability the most effective showcases of the usefulness of AI in our lives.
If you happen to add specifics to your request, the AI agent can be higher capable of meet your calls for.
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The place does Apple stand?
In comparison with corporations like Opera and Perplexity, Apple is noticeably behind in relation to totally agentic AI experiences. Whereas macOS 26 and iOS 26 deliver enhancements to Apple Intelligence, the options introduced to date are extra restricted than what agentic browsers are already able to.
In contrast to Perplexity Comet or Opera Neon, Safari hasn’t built-in any agentic capabilities (a minimum of not but). Apple Intelligence focuses on private context with issues like rewriting emails and summarizing notifications. It’s a formidable first step, particularly given Apple’s emphasis on privateness and on-device processing. However Apple Intelligence, for now, isn’t actually making an attempt to vary how you utilize the net.
Proper now, I nonetheless really feel extra snug utilizing the net the normal approach, but it surely’s simple that having a browser that does issues for me sounds fairly interesting in sure conditions, and I’d like to see Apple engaged on one thing related.
That may occur. Studies recommend that Apple has internally mentioned the concept of buying Perplexity, the startup behind the Comet browser. Valued at round $14 billion, Perplexity might assist Apple catch up within the AI race, particularly in areas like net search and agentic shopping, the place Safari nonetheless lags.
It’s unclear whether or not Apple will go forward with its acquisition plans, however with the billion-dollar deal between Apple and Google beneath risk resulting from antitrust legal guidelines, the corporate would have a very good motive to spend money on its personal AI-powered browser and search engine.
The way forward for net shopping
Agentic browsers like Opera Neon and Perplexity Comet are usually not excellent and sometimes painfully gradual, however they provide a glimpse of what the way forward for net shopping appears like. Whereas I’m not prepared to surrender Safari simply but, I can see the attraction of letting an AI assistant do the boring stuff. Because the know-how evolves and will get faster, I can see it changing Safari for some duties, particularly if Apple doesn’t make an effort to catch up.
Whether or not Apple builds one thing like this itself or finally ends up buying an organization like Perplexity, it’s clear that the net as we all know it’s going by way of a significant transformation. And this time, AI isn’t simply enhancing the browser. It’s changing into the browser.
