Perplexity’s Comet Fuels the AI Froth

Last week, as the AI world buzzed with commentary on OpenAI’s release of GPT-4.5, Perplexity made its own play for the spotlight with the bold, yet puzzling, announcement of Comet. The premise was captivating: an AI-driven web browser designed to transform the internet experience. If you caught wind of it, you might have felt that same mix of excitement and skepticism that marks so many AI product reveals these days. On one hand, it sounds revolutionary—on the other, we’ve been burned before by breakthrough promises that go nowhere. And while vaporware is nothing new, this marketing trend is truly starting to gain momentum.

Think of it this way: the Comet announcement wasn’t a preview (because there’s nothing to see), it wasn’t an update (there’s nothing to report), and it certainly wasn’t a release (again, nothing). Of course we’re intrigued, but we’re also left scratching our heads.

In many ways, Comet encapsulates the state of AI hype right now. Despite very few actual details—no public demo, no feature set, no clear timeline—people flocked to its waitlist. Social media buzzed. Newsletters jumped on the story. Blog articles repeated the same scant information. Could this be the next big frontier in AI, or is it just another well-funded misfire? For anyone shaping brand strategy in the AI era, there's one clear takeaway: how easy it is to grab headlines with nothing to back them up.

There’s a reason Comet so easily captured our attention. Ever since the ChatGPT "moment" in 2022, the marketing hamster wheel has been running at top speed, awaiting the next major breakthrough. As a result, AI announcements have arrived at a dizzying pace, with every media outlet and content creator poised to hit PUBLISH on the next crumb of a story. The latest AGI prediction, the latest undercooked AI MarTech offering, the latest text-to-video tool with marginally fewer hallucinations—everything is elevated to “breaking news” status, but seldom warrants it.

If Comet turns out to be a dud, it’s another signal that we may be racing toward a point where these untested launches implode under the weight of their own hype. If Apple—of all companies—can preside over the monumental flop that was Apple Intelligence, what does that mean for lesser brands? Not to mention OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Copilot. Of course, tech giants have the resources to manage the fallout. The rest of us have to consider the real consequences of rushing to market with IOUs and undercooked offerings.

Yet there’s a flip side.

If Comet truly delivers an AI-powered browsing experience that reimagines everything from search to user interfaces, it could be a game-changer. If I discover valuable use cases, I’ll be first in line. If privacy concerns, hallucinations, and inherent biases don’t derail it, that would be remarkable. And if no one else beats them to the punch, then it might actually be newsworthy—news that’s worth our time and attention.

Why was the ChatGPT moment so newsworthy? It caught us by surprise, felt like an overnight leap forward, and we could see it in action right away. Since then, every major AI announcement seems to ride that wave, often with ulterior motives. Whether it was Sora making a splash with a viral demo before disappearing for nearly two years, Apple parading its “AI-ready” iPhone (now a case study in buyer’s remorse), or Perplexity’s Comet that suddenly feels eerily familiar, the strategy is the same: grab quick attention for a flimsy competitive advantage, then risk a spectacular unraveling when the bill comes due.

As a veteran marketer, I’m not just playing Monday morning quarterback. Comet was last week’s headline, and even as I write, a new round of expertly orchestrated tweets and press releases is undoubtedly in progress. But my perspective goes back further: to the dot-com bubble, when tech startups and investors weren’t alone in losing their minds—marketers did too. We built houses of cards on speculation and puffery, and it ended in a fiery crash.

Yet it also helped spark the inbound movement, a marketing methodology anchored in trust, authenticity, relationship-building, and genuine empathy for the customer. We may be entering a new era in technology, but we shouldn’t abandon that fundamental mindset in our forward-thinking frenzy.

For marketers determined to thrive in the AI era, it’s wise to approach each “next big thing”—the next Comet, the next Sora, the next Apple Intelligence—with a healthy dose of skepticism. Ask how this innovation serves the customer, and hold that same standard in your own marketing efforts.

In the broader AI landscape, Comet’s story reminds us that genuine innovation and user-focused outcomes should remain paramount, no matter how tempting it is to race ahead with flashy claims. Marketers who balance ambition with honesty will be better equipped to guide their brands through the unpredictable waters of AI’s next chapter. And the next time a newcomer proclaims the “future of AI,” pause to consider whether it’s truly transformative—or just another shooting star destined to burn out. That distinction matters, particularly in an arena where one misstep can erode the trust we all work so hard to earn.