OpenAI has officially launched ChatGPT Atlas, a highly anticipated AI-powered web browser built around its popular chatbot — marking a bold move into Google Chrome’s territory.
The new browser leverages OpenAI’s vast user base of 800 million weekly active ChatGPT users, positioning the company to expand further into users’ digital habits and online behavior. Analysts say Atlas could accelerate the ongoing shift toward AI-driven, conversational search, challenging Google’s keyword-based search model and intensifying competition between the two tech giants.
Shares of Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Google’s parent company, fell 1.8% in afternoon trading following the announcement.
According to earlier Reuters reports, OpenAI’s entry joins a crowded field of AI browsers that includes Perplexity’s Comet, Brave Browser, and Opera’s Neon, all racing to integrate intelligent features such as page summarization, code generation, and automated form-filling.
ChatGPT Atlas introduces several standout tools — including a ChatGPT sidebar that can summarize web pages, compare products, and analyze online data in real time. A new “agent mode,” available to paid subscribers, allows ChatGPT to interact with websites autonomously, performing complete tasks such as planning a trip or making purchases.
In a live demonstration, OpenAI engineers showed ChatGPT autonomously finding a recipe online and automatically purchasing the ingredients through Instacart — completing the multi-step process in minutes.
The browser is now available globally for macOS, with Windows, iOS, and Android versions to follow soon.
Under Sam Altman's leadership, OpenAI continues to push boundaries in artificial intelligence. Since ChatGPT’s explosive debut in late 2022, the company has faced growing rivalry from Google and Anthropic, prompting it to seek new avenues for growth and user engagement.
Meanwhile, Google has been evolving its search engine to keep pace. Its AI Overviews (or “AI Mode”) now appear alongside traditional search results, and its Gemini AI model has been fully integrated into Chrome for U.S. users, with plans to expand to mobile platforms.
Despite growing competition, Google Chrome maintains a dominant 71.9% share of the global browser market as of September, according to StatCounter. Still, analysts believe OpenAI’s Atlas could disrupt that stronghold.
“Integrating chat into a browser is a precursor for OpenAI to start selling ads — something it hasn’t done yet,” said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson. “Once OpenAI enters the ad market, it could divert a significant portion of Google’s search advertising revenue, which currently accounts for roughly 90% of that category.”
A U.S. federal judge’s ruling in September allowed Google to retain control over Chrome and continue paying partners to promote its search engine, but as generative AI reshapes user behavior, that dominance may soon face its toughest test yet.
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