The Death of the Internet

...AS WE KNOW IT

- SREEJITH VELLU MADHOM

Let's start with something we all do every day, usually without thinking: click.

Click to search. Click to compare. Click to buy, book, scroll, close, and open again. Most of us tap through the internet on autopilot. Click to again.

It's muscle memory at this point.

Every click feeds a giant machine that spouts ads, data tracking, SEO hacks, attention farms. That's not just how we use the web. That is the web. Or was.

The average internet user makes hundreds of clicks a day, and behind every one of them, there's an economy of ads, algorithms, data, and dollars.

This click-driven system isn't just how we navigate the internet. It is the internet. Or at least, it has been. But now, a new generation of Al-powered web browsers wants to kill the click entirely and with it, the very foundation of how we explore, understand, and profit from the web. And they're not just nudging at the edges. They're coming straight for the juggernaut: Google.

The age of the click is about to get ghosted. A new wave of AI-powered browsers is here to break the link economy and they're gunning for Google's crown. Hard.

Last week, Silicon Valley's current golden child, Perplexity AI, launched Comet: a browser that doesn't want you to browse at all. No tabs. No link-chasing. No "Top 10 Best Anything" rabbit holes. Just vibes and answers. You ask it something, anything, and Comet responds like the smartest friend you know. Not 10 links. One tight, conversational, well-sourced take. It's like Google Search and ChatGPT had a brainy, overachieving child who also happens to do your homework and book your flights. They're calling it your "second brain," which sounds a little Black Mirror but also kinda genius. It reads 30-page PDF's like they're tweets. It finds the best insurance plan. It buys you tickets. All without dumping you in 37 tabs of mayhem.