OpenAI has introduced Atlas, a new web browser integrated with ChatGPT, marking a significant shift in how users may experience the internet. Officially released on Tuesday for macOS, Atlas empowers users to utilize ChatGPT via text or voice to interact with web content and navigate various websites. Versions for Android, iOS, and Windows are anticipated to follow shortly.
During a livestream event, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emphasized that Atlas provides a chance to “rethink what a browser can be about.” This rethinking entails enabling ChatGPT to observe, mediate, and dictate browsing sessions. “With Atlas, ChatGPT can accompany you anywhere across the web—offering assistance in the context you are in, comprehending your objectives, and completing tasks for you, all without the need for copying and pasting or leaving the page,” OpenAI stated in a blog post.
According to the release notes, Atlas includes a sidebar feature that allows ChatGPT to analyze or summarize webpage content. Users can also invoke ChatGPT directly from form fields on pages rendered in Atlas. The browser offers options for users to activate browsing memories, manage past browsing history, and restrict ChatGPT”s access to specific sites. Additionally, Pro and Business users can utilize an agent mode that allows Atlas to execute more complex multi-step tasks.
“In agent mode, ChatGPT is capable of handling entire tasks for you, such as planning meals, compiling ingredient lists, and adding groceries to a shopping cart for delivery,” the release notes clarify. ChatGPT will seek user confirmation before executing important actions, thereby mitigating the risk of unintended purchases.
Similar to the Perplexity Comet browser launched in July, OpenAI aims for web users to delegate their interactions with sites to AI agents acting on their behalf, potentially even facilitating purchases. However, OpenAI seeks to ensure that ChatGPT reaches as broad an audience as possible. Browsers serve as the primary gateway for users accessing the web, leading major companies like Google and Microsoft to integrate preferred AI services into their offerings. Google has incorporated Gemini into Chrome, while Microsoft has added Copilot to Edge. Meanwhile, smaller browsers like Brave and Opera have also integrated AI features, with Mozilla offering a selection of AI models in Firefox. Notably, Vivaldi remains the only browser yet to adopt AI functionalities.
Despite the introduction of Atlas, it remains unclear if it will significantly impact AI market share. A report from VC firm Menlo Ventures indicates that a substantial portion of Americans reported using either ChatGPT or Google Gemini recently, suggesting consumer adoption is largely influenced by existing embedded products. Changing user habits proves challenging.
Owning a browser could benefit OpenAI should it decide to explore the online advertising sector—a possibility that Altman previously downplayed but now appears more plausible. Given OpenAI”s rapid financial losses, it is likely that ad revenue will become a focus area.
As a web browser, Atlas features some peculiarities. Developer Tools can be accessed through the View menu; however, they are inoperable on a New Tab page—likely due to the default ChatGPT input box not being formatted as a web page. Additionally, suggested prompts that appear in the New Tab window reappear upon reloading, even if users attempt to dismiss them.
Atlas is built on Google”s open-source Chromium project and supports Chrome extensions. Unlike Google Chrome, which currently allows users to disable AI Mode through chrome://flags, Atlas does not provide a similar settings page. This omission may indeed be intentional, as OpenAI is keen for users to set Atlas as their default browser. To incentivize this, the company has offered increased ChatGPT usage limits to those who maintain Atlas as their default for a full week.
The release notes include a section on “Privacy and data controls,” which is notable as there is no Privacy menu available in Atlas”s settings at launch. The notes assert that “By default, we don”t use the content you browse to train our models.” However, my experience upon installing Atlas revealed that the Data Controls -> Model improvement option was preset to “On,” indicating that user content could be utilized for training purposes.
The statement “We take steps to protect your privacy” seems vague and noncommittal, raising concerns about user data security. Pranav Vishnu, the product lead for ChatGPT Atlas, acknowledged that sharing your browser with ChatGPT introduces new risks. He noted that Atlas is designed with limitations, such as restricting its operations to user tabs and preventing it from executing code on local machines or accessing local files.
In a blog post, Simon Willison, a prominent open-source developer, expressed ongoing concerns about the security and privacy risks associated with browser agents. “The security and privacy risks involved here still feel insurmountably high to me—I certainly won”t be trusting any of these products until a bunch of security researchers have given them a very thorough beating,” he stated, adding that he finds AI browsers largely unexciting.
