OpenAI launches Atlas, a ChatGPT-powered browser to rival Chrome and Perplexity’s Comet

OpenAI has launched a new AI-backed browser to take on Google Chrome and Perplexity’s Comet, called Atlas. OpenAI had so far been adding agentic AI capabilities into ChatGPT via different agents, but these capabilities now come in a separate product.

​The AI startup presents Atlas as a new browser that is designed to be fast, flexible, and supportive of new experiences. The browser comes with three core features:

​The new browser powered by ChatGPT comes with three core features: Chat, Memory, and Agent. ChatGPT accompanies users across the web on Atlas, and users can summon the chatbot on any website to streamline tasks like drafting emails, summarizing content, comparing products, or analyzing data from any site.

​Atlas uses ChatGPT memory to retrieve details about past conversations in order to personalize the experience for users. OpenAI says Atlas will get smarter and more helpful as it soaks in more context from the conversations with the users. The memory functionality will allow users to ask questions related to their browser history, like, “Find all the job postings I was looking at last week and create a summary of industry trends so I can prepare for interviews.”

​The browser also comes with an incognito mode for when users don’t want to save their browser memory. OpenAI also says that browser memory will be optional, and users will be able to view or archive it any time in the settings.

​Finally, Agent Mode allows ChatGPT to perform actions on different sites on behalf of the user, like researching and shopping for a trip, planning events, or booking appointments.

​An OpenAI employee during the livestream also admitted the potential privacy risks that an agent could entail and promised that the ChatGPT agent is only working on the browser tabs and does not have access to other files on the computer.

​“Despite all of the power and awesome capabilities that you get with sharing your browser with ChatGPT, that also poses an entirely new set of risks,” said the employee.

​“In addition to a bunch of built-in safeguards, that ChatGPT Agent is only ever operating on your tabs. It can’t execute code on your computer or access other files. It’s just in your tabs,” he added.

Instead of having Google Search or Bing as the default search engine, Atlas uses ChatGPT search, and the company has also made some changes to the search experience in order to provide users an experience akin to a traditional search engine.

​How to use Atlas?

​The browser will be available to all ChatGPT users for Mac starting today. However, the Agent Mode will only be restricted to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users.

​OpenAI says it is working on bringing Atlas to Windows and mobile devices soon.