Brave
Brave is a Chromium-based, privacy-first browser (Brave Software Inc.) whose built-in ad/tracker blocking reportedly makes sites “3x–6x faster.” Tier T3 (first-party site). Its signature move is Brave Rewards / Basic Attention Token (BAT) — an opt-in crypto model where users earn tokens for viewing privacy-preserving ads, inverting the “you are the product” bargain. It also ships Brave Search (an independent, non-profiling index), a Firewall+VPN premium, and Leo, an in-browser AI assistant.
Brave anchors the spoke’s privacy current — but notably it also added an AI assistant (Leo), so even the privacy pole isn’t AI-free. Its distinctive contribution is the alternative business model: where the AI browsers monetize via subscription (Comet $200/mo) and the incumbents via ads/search, Brave bets on crypto-mediated attention — a third answer to “who pays for the browser.”