OpenAI announced the Atlas web browser on October 21, 2025, aiming to integrate its ChatGPT AI directly into web browsing. The macOS version is available immediately, with Windows and mobile versions to follow soon. Key features include chatting with web pages and an AI agent for automated tasks.
OpenAI's new Atlas browser seeks to redefine online interaction by embedding ChatGPT into the browsing experience, much like Google's 2008 Chrome launch integrated its search engine. Founder and CEO Sam Altman described it during a livestream as enabling users to “chat with a page,” making ChatGPT central to online work and life. “The way that we hope people will use the Internet in the future… is that the chat experience and a web browser can be a great analogue,” Altman said.
The browser's home screen features a simple text field prompting users to “Ask ChatGPT or type a URL,” alongside access to chat history and model selections. Standard browser tools like tabs, bookmarks, and auto-fill are included, but ChatGPT integration allows natural language searches of bookmarks or history, side chats contextual to pages, and direct edits in tools like Gmail without copying.
Searches yield LLM responses with embedded links or traditional result tabs for links, images, videos, and news. Agent Mode, a preview for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, lets the AI perform tasks autonomously, such as transferring planning tasks from a Google Docs table to Linear software or adding recipe ingredients to Instacart. Research lead Will Ellsworth called it an “amazing tool for vibe life-ing,” akin to AI coding aids. Users can monitor the agent's actions, intervene, or run it in the background; it operates only within tabs using user authentication but cannot execute external code. Controls include manual login toggles and incognito mode.
Competitors like Microsoft's Copilot in Edge and Google's upcoming Gemini agentic features in Chrome are already advancing AI browsing. Startups such as Perplexity have eyed acquisitions, including a $34.5 billion bid for Chrome despite its $14 million valuation. OpenAI expressed interest in buying Chrome in April, though antitrust developments make that unlikely. With ChatGPT's over 700 million weekly active users, Atlas could access more user data and enable ad integration, per prior reports from The Information and Reuters.
