Image source, Reuters
-
- Author, Lily Jamali
- Author’s title, BBC North America Technology Correspondent
OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, has introduced an artificial intelligence-based web browser to compete with companies like Google, which operates Chrome, the world’s most popular browser.
ChatGPT Atlas removes the address bar, a key feature in searches. Its director, Sam Altman, said it was built “around ChatGPT” after making the new browser available Tuesday for Apple’s macOS operating system.
The arrival of Atlas comes as OpenAI looks for new ways to monetize its big bet on artificial intelligence (AI) and capitalize on its growing user base.
OpenAI announced that Atlas will also offer a paid agent mode, which performs searches on its own for users of its popular chatbot.
The agent mode feature will be available only to paying ChatGPT subscribers. Use the chatbot to make “improvements that make it faster and more useful when working with the context of your navigation.”
The company has announced a series of new initiatives to attract users to its online services, establishing partnerships with e-commerce sites such as Etsy and Shopify, as well as booking services such as Expedia and Booking.com.
Leveraging the user base
Image source, Getty Images
At OpenAI’s DevDay event earlier this month, Altman announced that ChatGPT had reached 800 million weekly active users, up from 400 million in February, according to data and research firm Demandsage.
“I think the early adopters of ChatGPT are going to be the first to try the new OpenAI browser,” said Pat Moorhead, CEO and chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.
However, he was skeptical that Atlas would pose a serious challenge to Chrome or Microsoft Edge, “as mainstream, entry-level, and corporate users will simply wait for their favorite browsers to offer this feature.”
Microsoft Edge already offers many of these capabilities, Moorhead added.
The competition from OpenAI comes a year after Google was declared an illegal monopoly in online searches.
In a recent decision aimed at prescribing remedies for Google’s dominance, the search giant managed to avoid an order that would have forced it to sell its Chrome browser, as lawyers at the US Department of Justice had requested.
A growing number of internet users are choosing to use large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT to find answers and recommendations.
Research firm Data said that in July, 5.99% of searches on desktop browsers went to LLM, more than double the previous year.
Google has also invested heavily in AI and, over the past year, has prioritized AI-generated answers to queries in its search results.
Subscribe here to our new newsletter to receive a selection of our best content of the week every Friday.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and activate them.
