Prime Highlight
- PayPal has partnered with AI firm Perplexity to give U.S. customers early access to Comet, its AI-powered browser.
- Users will also receive a free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription, normally priced at $200.
Key Facts
- The offer is available through the PayPal and Venmo apps and will expand internationally later this month.
- PayPal is also promoting its new subscriptions hub, offering $50 cashback for linking and paying for three subscriptions.
Background
PayPal partnered with AI firm Perplexity to provide its customers in the U.S. with early access to Comet, a new AI-powered web browser, along with a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro, normally priced at $200 per year. The offer is open to PayPal and Venmo users directly through their apps and will expand to more countries later this month.
Launched in July, Comet includes an AI assistant, automatic summaries of search results, product comparisons, and other tools aimed at competing with mainstream browsers like Chrome. Initially offered to Perplexity Max subscribers who pay $200 a month and a limited number of invitees, Comet is now being made available to a significantly larger audience as part of this agreement.
For PayPal, the collaboration is also a way to spotlight its new subscriptions hub, a feature that helps users view and manage recurring payments in one place. To encourage sign-ups, PayPal is running a promotion that gives $50 to customers who link and pay for at least three subscriptions using its platform.
Perplexity, in its turn, gets exposure much broader at a time when AI-based browsers fight over market share. The collaboration would also result in new paying customers once the free one-year period expires, either due to users retaining the subscription or forgetting to cancel.
Free subscription and Comet invitation are valid until the end of 2025. One PayPal account is permitted to send one invitation, and any current Perplexity Pro customer is ineligible. Once registration is completed, the user will be instructed to download and install the browser immediately.
Diego Scotti, PayPal’s Consumer Group GM, said the partnership delivers “offers and tools that customers want most, with added simplicity, convenience, and rewards.”
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