OpenAI has unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, a long-anticipated AI-powered web browser built around its popular chatbot, in a direct challenge to Google Chrome’s dominance.
The launch marks OpenAI’s latest move to capitalise on 800 million weekly active ChatGPT users, as it expands into more aspects of users’ online lives by collecting data about consumers’ browser behaviour.
It could accelerate a broader shift towards AI-driven search, as users increasingly turn to conversational tools that synthesise information instead of relying on traditional keyword-based results from Google — intensifying competition between OpenAI and Google.
The OpenAI browser is the latest entrant in a crowded field of AI browsers, which includes Perplexity’s Comet, Brave Browser and Opera’s Neon, as companies race to weave in tools that can summarise pages, fill out forms and draft code to attract users.
Atlas lets users open a ChatGPT sidebar in any window to summarise content, compare products or analyse data from any site. In “agent mode”, now available to paid users, ChatGPT can interact with websites on their behalf — completing tasks from start to finish, such as researching and shopping for a trip.
In a demo on Tuesday, OpenAI developers showcased how ChatGPT could find an online recipe and then automatically purchase all the ingredients. The agent navigated to the Instacart website and added the necessary groceries to the cart — a task that took several minutes to complete.
Upended
The browser is now available globally on Apple’s macOS. Versions for Windows, iOS and Android will be released later.
Led by Sam Altman, OpenAI upended the tech industry with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Following its initial success, the company has faced stiff competition from Google and start-up Anthropic and has been seeking new areas of growth.
Google, meanwhile, has been developing ways to adapt to shifting search behaviours since ChatGPT’s debut. Depending on the query, each Google search result can now display an AI overview, or AI Mode, alongside traditional links, offering a chatbot-like experience. Last month, Google integrated its Gemini AI model into Chrome for US users, with plans to bring Gemini to the iOS Chrome app as well.
Read: Gemini is coming to Google’s market-leading Chrome web browser
In a win for Google, a federal judge in September ruled that Google won’t have to sell the Chrome browser. Judge Amit Mehta said Google can continue paying partners to promote its search engine, noting that heavy investment in generative AI by Big Tech and start-ups alike now threatens traditional search, making such payments more acceptable.
Despite increasing competition, Google Chrome has held its dominance, with 71.9% market share in the global browser market in September, according to StatCounter. Still, analysts say a new browser from OpenAI could introduce fresh competition for ad dollars.
“Integrating chat into a browser is a precursor for OpenAI starting to sell ads, which it has yet to do so far. Once OpenAI starts selling ads, that could take away a significant part of search advertising share from Google, which has around 90% of that spend category,” said Gil Luria, analyst at DA Davidson. — Juby Babu and Krystal Hu, with by Anhata Rooprai, (c) 2025 Reuters
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