In a move that could change how we navigate the internet, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a web browser built from the ground up around its flagship chatbot. Instead of having tabs and search bars be central to your browsing, ChatGPT becomes central, offering conversational control, memory of your activity, and the ability to act on your behalf online.
This comes shortly after OpenAI turned ChatGPT into a fully-fledged digital assistant that directly interacts with popular apps and the launch of GPT-5.
A browser re-imagined
What the browser looks like when searching
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Atlas is designed to “come with you across the web” by being embedded directly into the browser. The assistant sits in a sidebar, ready to summarise pages, compare products, analyse data and even automate tasks like booking travel or purchasing groceries. The company describes this as a “once-in-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be.”
While online reports have it based on Chronium, OpenAI itself hasn’t clarified if it is. Only saying Atlas is “a new web browser built with ChatGPT at its core.”
The browser is initially available on macOS, free to users of ChatGPT’s Free, Plus, Pro, and Go plans, with support for Windows, iOS, and Android coming soon.
Key features: Memory and agents
ChatGPT can remember what you’ve explored and suggest what to do next, whether that’s returning to past pages, digging deeper into a topic, surfacing related ideas, or automating routine tasks.
Two standout features set Atlas apart:
- Browser Memories: When enabled, ChatGPT can remember what you’ve browsed, from the pages you’ve visited, the content you’ve read, and use that context in future conversations. For example, you might ask, “What were all the job postings I looked at last week and summarise industry trends?” and the system would dig into your browsing history to respond.
- Agent Mode: Available in preview for Plus, Pro and Business users, this mode allows ChatGPT to act on your behalf. In demo form, it was shown researching a recipe, selecting ingredients and placing them in a cart on Instacart — all automatically.
Despite the automation, OpenAI emphasises user control and privacy. Users can toggle off memory tracking, clear past data and use an incognito-type mode, ensuring the assistant only sees what you allow.
The broader implications
You can use ChatGPT in any browser app.
With Atlas, OpenAI is not simply launching a new browser. It is challenging long-standing web giants. The browser is a direct move into territory dominated by Google Chrome. By deeply integrating AI into the browsing experience, the company is shifting the paradigm from searching to interacting.
This signals that browsers are becoming more than tools to view web pages, they are evolving into work-spaces, assistants and orchestrators. One online comment noted that Atlas “could redefine the browser itself, turning it into an intelligent workspace that understands intent, manages context, and powers the next phase of AI-driven interaction on the web.”
Yet, the road ahead is complex. While ChatGPT has hundreds of millions of users, OpenAI continues to operate at a financial loss, and browsers like Chrome still command billions of users globally. The monetisation model, how Atlas will drive revenue, remains unclear.
For the everyday user, Atlas offers several potential benefits:
- Workflows may become smoother: you could research, draft emails, summarise long articles, manage online tasks — all without switching apps or tabs.
- The browsing experience may feel more personalised — the assistant remembers you, your interests and your context.
- Privacy remains in your hands: you decide whether ChatGPT sees your browsing, and features like memories can be disabled.
The big picture
With ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI is signalling that it wants to change how we use the web, from passive browsing to active collaboration with AI. It’s a bold step, especially given how entrenched Google’s Chrome and, by extension, Gemini is. Whether it succeeds will depend both on how effectively the technology works in everyday settings and how users feel about handing more of their online workflow to a chatbot-powered browser.
As the rollout continues to other platforms in the coming months, the tug-of-war between established browsers and this new breed of AI-native browsing experience will be worth watching.