OpenAI is reportedly close to releasing an artificial intelligence-powered web browser that could directly challenge Alphabet’s market-dominating Google Chrome, according to a Reuters report citing three people familiar with the matter.
The browser is slated to launch in the coming weeks and would aim to use AI to fundamentally change how consumers browse the web, Reuters reports. The move would allegedly give OpenAI more direct access to a cornerstone of Google’s success: user data.
If adopted by the 500 million weekly active users of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s browser could potentially put pressure on a key component of rival Google’s advertising revenue stream. Chrome is an important pillar of Alphabet’s advertising business, which makes up nearly three-quarters of its revenue, as Chrome provides user information to help Alphabet target advertisements more effectively and profitably.
OpenAI’s browser is said to be designed to keep some user interactions within a ChatGPT-like native chat interface instead of clicking through to websites, according to the Reuters report citing two sources. The browser is part of a broader strategy by OpenAI to weave its services across the personal and work lives of consumers, one of the sources told Reuters.
The browser would allow OpenAI to directly integrate its AI agent products such as Operator into the browsing experience, enabling the browser to carry out tasks on behalf of the user. The report notes that the browser’s access to a user’s web activity would make it the ideal platform for AI “agents” that can take actions on their behalf, like booking reservations or filling out forms, directly within the websites they use.
OpenAI faces tough competition in the browser market. Google Chrome, which is used by more than 3 billion people, currently holds more than two-thirds of the worldwide browser market, according to web analytics firm StatCounter. Apple’s second-place Safari lags far behind with a 16 per cent share.
The report comes as other AI companies are making similar moves. Perplexity, which has a popular AI search engine, launched an AI browser called Comet on Wednesday, capable of performing actions on a user’s behalf. Two other AI startups, The Browser Company and Brave, have released AI-powered browsers capable of browsing and summarising the internet, with the former recently sunsetting its Arc browser in favour of a fully AI-equipped new product called Dia.
The sources claim OpenAI’s browser is built atop Chromium, Google’s own open-source browser code. Chromium is the source code for Google Chrome, as well as many competing browsers including Microsoft’s Edge and Opera.
Last year, OpenAI hired two longtime Google vice presidents who were part of the original team that developed Google Chrome, Reuters reports. An OpenAI executive testified in April that the company would be interested in buying Chrome if antitrust enforcers succeeded in forcing the sale.
OpenAI reportedly decided to build its own browser, rather than simply a “plug-in” on top of another company’s browser, in order to have more control over the data it can collect.
