New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- "If you're so tech savvy, why are you still on Chrome?" asks a cheeky Perplexity AI ad.

The battle over agentic artificial intelligence (AI) browsers-tools that can book meetings, make purchases, and compare products on your behalf-is heating up, echoing the Netscape vs. Microsoft Internet Explorer clash of the 1990s. This time, Perplexity has thrown down the gauntlet by making its Comet browser free, joining rivals such as Opera Neon, DuckDuckGo, Dia, Bravo, and OpenAI's AI shopping agent.

These autonomous browsers promise both convenience and disruption, while raising new questions about privacy, security, and the risks of unchecked automation.

Mint unpacks the latest developments.

What's this battle all about?...