OpenAI launches Atlas, a (potentially) disruptive web browser

OpenAI has released a new web browser, the company’s latest bid to become consumers’ chief gateway to the web. 

The new browser, called ChatGPT Atlas, will initially be available on macOS on the desktop. Versions for Windows, iOS, and Android are coming soon, OpenAI says. 

OpenAI worked hard to build as many AI-driven features into Atlas as possible. For example, Atlas learns the user’s browsing history and, in some cases, can make content suggestions proactively.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested that this first version of the browser is just the start, pledging to add “way more stuff that we will tell you about later” and adding that the company “can take this pretty far.” 

The browser also integrates an AI agent, which can perform certain tasks for the users, such as filling out web forms and booking reservations. These things can happen in the background while the user does other things on the web. This, OpenAI says, may cut down on the number of browser tabs that users must currently wade through. However, “agent mode” is only available to OpenAI’s paying Plus and Pro subscribers. 

The Atlas browser isn’t the only AI-first product out there—Perplexity, for instance, launched its Comet browser earlier this year. But Atlas may pose a serious threat to Google’s dominant Chrome browser, which plays a central role in the company’s advertising business model.

OpenAI announced the new browser via a livestream on Tuesday. 

“We think AI presents a rare once-in-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about,” Altman said at the beginning of the stream.

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