OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas to rival Google Chrome

OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, has launched ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered web browser designed to challenge Google Chrome, the most popular browser in the world, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

According to the BBC, Atlas removes the traditional address bar and is “built around ChatGPT,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as the browser became available on Apple’s macOS on Tuesday.

The launch comes at a time when OpenAI is exploring new ways to monetize its massive AI investment and expand its user base. Atlas will include a paid “agent mode”, which conducts independent web searches for ChatGPT subscribers, using browsing context to make the process faster and more useful.

OpenAI has also entered partnerships with platforms like Etsy, Shopify, Expedia, and Booking.com to attract more users to its online services.

In its DevDay event earlier this month, Altman announced that ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users, up from 400 million in February, according to data firm Demandsage.

Analyst Pat Moorhead, from Moor Insights & Strategy, said early adopters are likely to try Atlas but expressed skepticism that it would pose a serious threat to Chrome or Microsoft Edge, since typical users and corporate clients might wait for similar features from their preferred browsers.

This development comes a year after Google was declared an illegal monopoly in online search, although it was not forced to separate from its Chrome browser. Meanwhile, AI-based searches are rising: according to research firm Datos, as of July, 6% of desktop searches were conducted via large language models — double the figure from a year earlier.

Google, for its part, has also broadly integrated AI-generated answers into its search results over the past year.