OpenAI launches web browser, ChatGPT Atlas, in challenge to Google

OpenAI said Tuesday it is launching an artificial intelligence-powered website browser, heightening the company's competition with Google, the Alphabet-owned unit that has long dominated online search.

The new browser, called ChatGPT Atlas, is for now only available on Apple laptops that run the company's Mac operating system. Access will soon expand to Apple's iOS, Microsoft Windows and Google's Android platforms, OpenAI said.

In the company's launch video, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described Atlas as an AI-powered web browser built around ChatGPT that will allow people to converse with web pages. In a video presentation, he also expressed confidence that a chatbot interface will eventually supplant a traditional browser's URL bar.

"Tabs were great, but we haven't seen a lot of browser innovation since then," he said.

Like other search engines, Atlas has a home page with a search bar where people can ask questions, similar to Google's landing page. Users can also toggle through different tabs across the top of the browser to find news stories, images and other content.

But a few features set the browser apart, according to OpenAI. One is a ChatGPT side bar, which users can activate by clicking an "Ask ChatGPT" button in the upper right-hand corner of the browser.

"It's basically you inviting ChatGPT into your corner of the internet," said Ryan O'Rouke, the lead designer for Atlas, in OpenAI's video unveiling the browser.

The technology functions like ChatGPT but takes into account what web page people are on. In practice, that means users can ask questions about whatever content they are looking at. Users can also call on the ChatGPT function while drafting emails. In the demo, O'Rouke shows how he uses it to ask for edits on an email.

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

Atlas also has an "agent mode" that can take action on a person's behalf, armed with what it has learned from users' browsing history and what they are searching for. The agent also can help people complete a range of tasks, such as booking a flight, editing a document or ordering groceries. For now, agent mode is only available for plus and pro users, according to Altman.

OpenAI has said ChatGPT has more than 800 million users, although the San Francisco-based company has yet to turn a profit. Google's Chrome browser has roughly 3 billion worldwide users and has been adding some AI features drawing on the company's Gemini AI technology.