OpenAI is coming for Google Chrome.
On Tuesday, CEO Sam Altman announced ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI’s entry into the increasingly competitive web browser space. Shortly after the news, shares of Google Chrome-maker Alphabet dipped 3%.
ChatGPT Atlas combines multiple OpenAI products into one, bundling the chatbot functionality with a browser along with the ability for paid users to summon “agent,” the company’s AI tool capable of taking control of the user’s mouse and keyboard.
OpenAI
Altman positioned Tuesday’s announcement of an AI-infused web browser as just the beginning. ChatGPT Atlas went live on Tuesday afternoon for Mac OS users worldwide, with Altman adding that he hopes to expand to Windows and mobile devices “as quickly as we can.”
“There’s a lot more to add, this is just early days for this project,” Altman said during the company’s presentation. “The kind of idea that we’re excited about is what it means to have custom instructions follow you everywhere on the web.”
OpenAI showed off functionality that showed how the browser could do a variety of tasks, from searching through browser history to even some agentic work like task management, which one speaker called “vibe-lifeing.” Multiple demonstrations used Google’s services, including Gmail and Google Docs.
OpenAI
Atlas’ agentic functions will be limited to plus and pro users “for now,” Altman said.
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“As you have this agent that you’re having do things for you, getting to know you more and more, pulling stuff together for you proactively, finding things you might want on the internet, and bringing them together, which we showed a little bit of,” he said. “We think we can push that quite far.”
Tuesday’s announcement comes amid a flurry of deals and product announcements from OpenAI, ranging from an expanded partnership with Nvidia to the launch of Sora 2, a TikTok-esque competitor app for AI-generated content.
Web browsers are increasingly becoming integrated with AI. Beyond Google’s work to integrate its Gemini AI into its Chrome and Search products, Microsoft has integrated AI features into its Edge browser.
There are also plenty of AI startups making AI browser experiences, chief among them Perplexity, which recently launched its Comet Browser.
And if there was any doubt that OpenAI is hoping users will switch over from using Chrome, Safari, or Edge, a note in its Atlas announcement makes it abundantly clear.
“Set ChatGPT as default browser and get boosted limits for 7 days,” OpenAI says on the download page.
