PayPal Uses Access to Perplexity’s Comet Browser to Boost Subscriptions

PayPal is offering customers early access to Perplexity’s new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered browser Comet.

The offering, announced Wednesday (Sept. 3) and open to Venmo and PayPal customers in the U.S. and certain global markets, lets users experience Comet before its larger public rollout.

“The Comet browser is like a personal shopper and personal assistant all in one, so we’re excited that PayPal users will have early access to Comet,” Ryan Foutty, VP of Business at Perplexity, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS.

“In conjunction with Perplexity Pro, we’re arming PayPal and Venmo customers with powerful, accurate AI that’s useful throughout their daily lives.”

The release notes that Perplexity Pro is among the first offers now available to customers directly in PayPal’s new subscriptions hub, which lets users view and manage recurring subscription payments from one location.

Perplexity announced the launch of Comet in July, saying the new browser would allow users to answer questions, carry out tasks and conduct research from a single interface.

“Tabs that piled up waiting for your return now join one intelligent interface that understands how your mind works,” the company said in its announcement. “Context-switching between dozens of applications, sites and interfaces has stolen the focus and flow that bring joy to our work and fuel our curiosity.”

Last week, the company introduced a subscription program called Comet Plus that it said gives users access to premium content from trusted publishers and journalists, while offering publishers a better compensation model.

The company has set aside $42.5 million for a revenue-sharing program that compensates publishers when their material is used by the Comet browser or Perplexity’s AI assistant, with 80% going to publishers and Perplexity getting the rest.

“AI is helping to create a better internet, but publishers still need to get paid,” Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas told Bloomberg News. “So we think this is actually the right solution, and we’re happy to make adjustments along the way.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote recently about the impact of AI-powered search from the likes of Perplexity and Google on the traditional SEO marketing model for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). That model, the report said, is becoming less effective as AI-driven tools take over the discovery phase.

“The traditional SEO game is breaking down,” Joy Youell, owner of Winsome Marketing, told PYMNTS. “SMBs can’t just rely on ranking for search terms anymore. They’ll need to focus on visibility inside generative AI platforms, whether that’s structured data, verified listings, or integrations through plugins, APIs or partnerships.”