OpenAI has officially unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, its long-awaited AI-powered web browser that merges traditional internet navigation with conversational intelligence and autonomous task execution.
Introduced in a livestream led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Atlas is now available globally for macOS, with Windows, iOS, and Android versions “coming soon.”
Altman described Atlas as “a new way to use the internet,” positioning it as both a companion and an assistant within the browser itself.
“The chat experience in a web browser can be a great analog for how people will use the internet in the future.”
A Browser with a Brain
At the heart of Atlas is ChatGPT, which employees called “the beating heart of Atlas.”
The browser integrates OpenAI’s conversational model directly into the browsing experience, enabling real-time page summarisation, document editing, and interactive search.
Its Agent Mode, available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers, takes things further by allowing users to automate tasks – such as booking flights, managing reservations, or rewriting emails – all from within the browser.
Atlas also includes a memory system that personalizes user experiences over time. It can recall preferences, projects, and past interactions, making it a more contextual assistant. Users retain full control, with the ability to view, edit, or delete stored memories, or open incognito windows to prevent data retention altogether.
The interface itself features a split-screen mode by default, showing webpages on one side and an active ChatGPT thread on the other – a configuration designed to make ChatGPT a constant companion.
A feature called “cursor chat” allows users to edit or rephrase text directly in-line, highlighting OpenAI’s ambition to blend generative AI with everyday productivity tools.
The Atlas team includes a roster of industry veterans: Ben Goodger, who helped create both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox; Justin Rushing, formerly of Apple; Adam Fry, ChatGPT Search’s product lead; and Will Ellsworth, who works on post-training research.
Their combined experience suggests OpenAI’s aim is nothing short of redefining the modern browser – an application that hasn’t fundamentally changed in over a decade.
“This is just a great browser all-around – it’s smooth, it’s quick, it’s really nice to use,” Altman said during the demo.
A New Front in the AI Browser Wars
The launch of Atlas intensifies what’s quickly becoming one of the hottest fronts in AI: intelligent browsers.
Over the past year, Perplexity has made waves with its Comet browser, which reimagines search with a conversational “answer engine” that can summarise, purchase, or organize information across tabs.
Google, meanwhile, announced plans to weave its Gemini AI assistant deeply into Chrome, enabling it to handle mundane digital chores like scheduling or online shopping.
Atlas, however, takes a more agentic approach – it’s not just an assistant living inside a browser, but a browser designed around an assistant.
That distinction could set it apart if OpenAI can deliver a seamless, trustworthy user experience.
What This Means for IT Leaders
For IT and enterprise technology leaders, Atlas could represent a paradigm shift in workforce computing.
The integration of AI agents directly into browsers introduces both productivity gains and new governance challenges.
Teams could see efficiency boosts as employees use Atlas to summarize reports, fill out forms, manage emails, and complete routine digital workflows automatically.
But with those capabilities come critical considerations: data security, memory management, and access control. IT leaders will need to determine how much autonomy to give AI agents that can browse, act, and remember.
Organisations will also need to evaluate compliance implications – ensuring that AI-driven memory features and automated actions adhere to data retention and privacy policies.
As browser-based AI becomes more “agentic,” enterprises may face new expectations around AI governance, digital identity management, and integration with internal systems.
In effect, Atlas could dissolve the boundary between the web browser and the employee’s digital workspace – potentially reshaping not just how people browse, but how they work.
