OpenAI Launches Atlas: The AI-Powered Browser Challenging Google Chrome's Dominance

OpenAI announced that Atlas will initially launch on Apple laptops before expanding to Windows, iOS, and Android platforms.

On Tuesday, OpenAI unveiled Atlas, its proprietary web browser, positioning the ChatGPT creator in direct rivalry with Google as increasing numbers of internet users turn to artificial intelligence for answering their queries.

By establishing itself as a gateway for online searches, OpenAI, currently the world's highest-valued startup, could potentially attract more internet traffic and generate additional revenue from digital advertising.

While ChatGPT reportedly boasts over 800 million users, many access the service without charge. The San Francisco-based company currently operates at a financial loss and has been exploring various avenues to achieve profitability.

According to OpenAI, Atlas will debut Tuesday on Apple laptops with subsequent releases planned for Microsoft's Windows, Apple's iOS mobile operating system, and Google's Android platform.

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, described this as a "rare, once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about and how to use one."

OpenAI's browser launch comes just months after one of its executives testified about the company's interest in acquiring Google's market-leading Chrome browser, had a federal judge mandated its sale to address monopolistic practices that led to Google's search engine being declared an illegal monopoly.

However, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta recently issued a decision rejecting the Chrome divestiture sought by the U.S. Justice Department in the monopoly case, partly because he believed advancements in AI technology are already transforming the competitive landscape.

Atlas will face significant challenges competing against Chrome, which has accumulated approximately 3 billion users worldwide and has been incorporating AI capabilities from Google's Gemini technology.

Chrome's tremendous success might provide a strategic template for OpenAI as it enters the browser market. When Google launched Chrome in 2008, Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominated the market to such an extent that few believed a new browser could pose a serious challenge.

However, Chrome quickly gained popularity by loading webpages faster than Internet Explorer and offering additional advantages that enabled it to revolutionize the market. Microsoft ultimately discontinued Explorer and introduced its Edge browser, which functions similarly to Chrome.

Earlier this year, Perplexity, another smaller AI startup, introduced its own browser called Comet. The company had also expressed interest in purchasing Chrome and eventually submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion offer that was rendered moot when Judge Mehta decided against breaking up Google.

Altman indicated that he envisions a chatbot interface replacing a traditional browser's URL bar as the central component of how he hopes people will use the internet in the future.

"Tabs were great, but we haven't seen a lot of browser innovation since then," he stated during a video presentation aired Tuesday.

A premium feature of the ChatGPT Atlas browser is an "agent mode" that accesses the laptop and effectively navigates the internet on behalf of the user, utilizing knowledge gained from browsing history and the user's information needs while explaining its search process.

"It's using the internet for you," Altman explained.