Former Perplexity Engineer Launches Polar AI Browser to Automate Knowledge Work

Perplexity employee who worked on Comet launches an AI browser aimed at knowledge work

AI browsers were all the rage in 2025. Companies large and small tried to build browsers that baked in AI in an effort to own the interface people use to browse the internet. How the turns have tabled. Today, OpenAI's Atlas is history, and The Browser Company sold to Atlassian, with its Dia browser now focusing on productivity use cases. Firefox tried to strike a balance in its own AI efforts by providing an off-switch, but it got shouted at anyway. This year, the focus has shifted to agents and automation. Startups like Strawberry, Browser Use, and Aside are building browsers with an agentic slant, and even Perplexity's Comet has moved towards providing browser agents. Amid this change, a startup called Polar has come out with an AI-first browser aimed at knowledge workers, and it has now raised a $5.7 million seed round led by Madrona. CEO, Kevin Jiang, who previously worked at Perplexity on Comet, said the first wave of AI browsers aimed to change default search for users and have them chat with tabs for doing tasks like travel booking, which wasn't a strong long-term proposition. "If you think about end-user consumers, they don't book a flight or make a reservation every day or every week. There wasn't a strong pull for mass consumers to go to an AI browser and find value in it. That's why our AI browser is not focused at all on mass consumers. We're focused on where we think browser agents are actually valuable, which is knowledge work," Jiang told TechCrunch. With Polar, users can schedule workflows, save prompts and assign tasks to agents based on their open tabs. The company says the browser can be easily used by non-technical users, and can help with work like sales, recruitment, marketing, research and business operations. The browser itself is free to use, and you get a few daily credits to spend on AI tasks. Users that want higher credit limits can pay for subscription plans starting from $20 per month. Polar says most of its current user base just uses its browser for automating tasks while using another browser as their daily driver. The startup's goal is to become a tool for automation, and it believes that the browser is currently the best way to do it. Still, it is open to exploring other avenues, such as computer use. Sabrina Albert, a partner at Madrona, said automating tasks for knowledge workers is a huge market. "I think that the hard part is building really reliable agentic work on the open, logged-in web. Building a web browser has a whole set of different advantages of understanding how users interact and engage with websites. Plus, they are logged into most of these websites, giving the tool access to services they use the most," she said over a call. The round also saw participation from ex-GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke, Phia founder Phoebe Gates, Modal CEO Erik Bernhardsson, Flapping Airplanes co-founder Benjamin Spector, Etched co-founder Rob Wachen, and Fundamental Research Labs co-founder and CEO Robert Yang.

Former Perplexity engineer launches new Polar AI browser which aims to automate repetitive tasks

Polar wants to turn your browser into an AI-powered productivity tool The AI browser race is entering a new phase. After spending much of 2025 trying to reinvent web search with built-in chatbots, startups are increasingly shifting their attention toward browser agents that can automate repetitive work instead of simply answering questions. The latest company to embrace that transition is Polar, a startup founded by former Perplexity engineer Kevin Zhang, which has raised $5.7 million in seed funding led by Madrona. Unlike the first generation of AI browsers that targeted everyday consumers, Polar is designed specifically for knowledge workers. Its premise is straightforward: instead of replacing Google Search, the browser aims to eliminate repetitive tasks that professionals perform across dozens of browser tabs every day. The next AI browser isn't trying to replace Chrome According to TechCrunch, Zhang believes the first wave of AI browsers focused too heavily on replacing default search engines or helping users complete occasional tasks such as booking flights and restaurant reservations. Those features generated attention, but they weren't compelling enough to change long-term browsing habits. "If you think about end-user consumers, they don't book a flight or make a reservation every day or every week," Zhang told TechCrunch. "There wasn't a strong pull for mass consumers to go to an AI browser and find value in it. That's why our AI browser is not focused at all on mass consumers. We're focused on where we think browser agents are actually valuable, which is knowledge work." Recommended Videos Polar reflects that philosophy. Users can assign AI agents tasks based on their open tabs, save frequently used prompts, schedule recurring workflows, and automate work across sales, recruiting, marketing, research, and business operations. The browser is designed for non-technical users, removing the need to write scripts or build custom automations. The product follows a freemium model. Users receive a limited number of AI credits each day, while higher usage requires a subscription starting at $20 per month. Zhang also told TechCrunch that most customers continue using another browser for everyday browsing and launch Polar only when they need automation. AI browsers are becoming AI coworkers Polar's launch highlights how quickly the AI browser market has evolved. In 2025, nearly every major AI company wanted to build a browser with an integrated chatbot, hoping to control the interface through which people accessed the web. That strategy has since changed. OpenAI's Atlas has disappeared, The Browser Company's Dia is increasingly focused on productivity, and browser startups including Strawberry, Browser Use and Aside are building products centered around AI agents rather than conversational search. Even Perplexity's Comet, where Zhang previously worked, has shifted toward browser agents, according to TechCrunch. Madrona believes that transition opens a much larger opportunity. Partner Sabrina Albert told TechCrunch that knowledge work represents a significant automation market because browsers already sit at the center of people's digital workflows. Since users are already logged into the services they rely on every day, browsers provide AI agents with a natural environment to interact with those applications. Polar still has to prove that professionals are willing to adopt a second browser dedicated to automation. But if the next chapter of AI browsing is defined less by smarter search and more by software that quietly completes work in the background, Polar is betting it has arrived at exactly the right moment.