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Generative AI is no longer just for content creation — it’s transforming web browsing too. This week, two privacy-focused web browsers, Arc and Brave, introduced new generative AI features.
Arc integrates Perplexity as a default search option
Arc, a minimalist browser from the Browser Company, now allows users to set their default search engine to Perplexity, a new AI-powered search engine. Previously, users could choose from Google, Bing, Yahoo! (powered by Bing), DuckDuckGo, and Yandex.
Perplexity’s CEO and co-founder, Aravind Srinivas, enthusiastically announced this development, stating this AI search engine rivals Google and Bing by providing intelligent summaries with source links. Perplexity recently raised $73.6 million in a Series B funding round, supported by industry giants such as Nvidia and Databricks.
With Arc’s integration, Perplexity will access more users and searches, improving its AI models and building a loyal user base. Arc’s creators also see this alliance as beneficial. Browser Company CEO Josh Miller emphasized the significance of AI search being distributed through browsers, suggesting it’s a fresh start for web browsing.
Srinivas accused Google of monopolizing the search market and welcomed Arc’s efforts to innovate the browser. He encouraged users to try out Arc and Perplexity.
Brave incorporates Mistral’s Mixtral LLM
Brave, another privacy-centric browser, announced that its AI chatbot assistant, Leo, would now be powered by Mixtral 8x7B, an open-source language model created by the French startup Mistral and based on Meta’s Llama.
Mixtral 8x6B, released in December 2023, is considered one of the most powerful language models available, according to third-party benchmarks. Initially launched in August 2023, Leo was powered by Llama 2. However, with Mixtral 8x6B proving superior, Brave decided to adopt it. Users can still choose from Mixtral 8x7B, Anthropic’s Claude Instant, or Meta’s Llama 2 13B to power their Leo assistant.
Brave’s inclusion of Mixtral aims to enhance the AI assistant’s capabilities, providing novel and convenient uses during browsing. This change reflects Brave’s commitment to offering a more private web browsing experience, with a reverse-proxy server masking user queries.
Future Outlook
Although Brave and Arc represent only a small fraction of the desktop web browser market, their efforts signal a shift towards AI-driven web browsing. Unlike the static, passive reading experiences of the past, future browsing may involve AI search engines or chatbots summarizing content and engaging users in interactive QA sessions.
The key question is whether major players like Google, Microsoft, and Apple will adopt similar AI models, and how they will implement these features. Equally important is whether users will embrace these innovations in their daily browsing activities.