OpenAI has a new web browser ready for launch

OpenAI on Tuesday announced a next-generation web browser, Atlas, as the company seeks to expand from an app into a broader computing platform.Why it matters: The move is likely to intensify the battle over how humans — and their AI agents — experience the internet.Atlas is based on Chromium, the open-source engine that powers Google's Chrome, among other browsers.Zoom out: OpenAI isn't the first AI company to see the value in having a browser. Perplexity has Comet, while Google and Microsoft have their existing browsers that could become real estate for future AI features.The moves come as traffic from bots is expected to surpass that from humans in the coming years.What they're saying: "We think that AI represents a rare once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about and how to use one and how to most productively and pleasantly use the web," Altman said as part of the announcement.How it works: Atlas lets you take ChatGPT with you as you browse the web."Tabs are great but we haven't seen a whole lot of innovation since then," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a livestream.Atlas includes an "Ask ChatGPT" sidebar that allows you to ask questions about the web pages you visit. Atlas will be live worldwide for Mac users Tuesday, with the agent mode limited to paid Plus and Pro subscribers."We want to bring this to Windows and mobile users as quickly as we can," Altman said.Agent mode in Atlas lets the AI engine handle certain tasks more autonomously."You can watch it or you don't have to," Altman said.In a demo, OpenAI showed there is a "take control" and a red "stop" button when the browser is taking action in Agent mode.Yes, but: Combining ChatGPT and the browser offers powerful capabilities, but also raises issues around privacy and security.The fine print: OpenAI says Atlas users can choose to be logged into accounts or not and can browse in "incognito" mode.Any browsing done in incognito mode isn't linked to your ChatGPT account and isn't saved in your browser history, OpenAi said.In addition to being able to save cookies and passwords, Atlas has an optional "memories" feature that offers deeper personalization.By default, OpenAI says it won't use Atlas browsing data to train its models unless people opt in, and it won't use business users' data at all.The big picture: OpenAI has been taking steps to morph into its own kind of platform or operating system, with a barrage of announcements in the past month.ChatGPT Pulse is a kind of centralized dashboard that prompts users with proactive updates based on chat history. The Sora app for creating and sharing AI-generated video is OpenAI's shot across the social bow at Meta and TikTok. The company opened up ChatGPT to developers in early October. Users can summon apps like Spotify and Zillow, asking for them by name in a chat.It's also been building the ability to buy goods from within ChatGPT, with Etsy as its first partner, to be followed by a host of Shopify apps. Walmart says a new ChatGPT instant checkout experience is "coming soon." Between the lines: OpenAI is trying to woo people to Atlas by promising an increase in ChatGPT data limits for 7 days for those who set and maintain Atlas as their default browser.The promotion is open to both free and paid ChatGPT users and after 7 days one's regular limits apply.Our thought bubble: Adding a browser gives OpenAI access to more data and makes it an even more integral part of the computing experience, but it's also likely to further increase the company's costs without immediately boosting revenue, though it could drive consumer subscriptions.What to watch: How quickly users adopt the new browser, and whether it can make a dent in Chrome's dominant market share.

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