OpenAI’s move to launch its own browser represents a strategic step toward directly controlling users’ online experience. Given Google Chrome’s dominance in the global market, the proposal for a browser with integrated artificial intelligence opens the door to a new browsing dynamic. The proposal is an innovation that increasingly integrates artificial intelligence into people’s daily lives and promises a more complete browsing experience.
A direct threat to Chrome’s hegemony
OpenAI is close to releasing an AI-powered web browser that will challenge Alphabet’s GOOGL.O market-dominating Google Chrome, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The browser is slated to launch in the coming weeks, three of the people said, and aims to use artificial intelligence to fundamentally change how consumers browse the web. It will give OpenAI more direct access to a cornerstone of Google’s success: user data.
If adopted by the 400 million weekly active users of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s browser could put pressure on a key component of rival Google’s ad-money spigot. Chrome is an important pillar of Alphabet’s ad business, which makes up nearly three-quarters of its revenue, as Chrome provides user information to help Alphabet target ads more effectively and profitably, and also gives Google a way to route search traffic to its own engine by default. OpenAI’s browser is designed to keep some user interactions within a ChatGPT-like native chat interface instead of clicking through to websites, two of the sources said.
The proposal is to transform browsing into a conversational experience, reducing the need for manual interactions. By directly capturing users’ usage patterns and preferences, OpenAI also expands its access to strategic data, essential for supporting its language models and expanding its personalized service offering.
OpenAI’s expansion into new territories
Led by entrepreneur Sam Altman, OpenAI upended the tech industry with the launch of its AI chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022. After its initial success, OpenAI has faced stiff competition from rivals including Google and startup Anthropic, and is looking for new areas of growth. In May, OpenAI said it would enter the hardware domain, paying $6.5 billion to buy io, an AI devices startup from Apple’s AAPL.O former design chief, Jony Ive.
The investment in hardware and the acquisition of the startup io highlight that the browser is just the start. By combining physical devices with its new browser, it could enable a more fluid use of AI across personal and professional settings, making it possible to automate anything from everyday routines to high-level decision-making.
A web 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 people said. 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.
Heavy competition and consolidated dominance
OpenAI has its work cut out – 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 AAPL.O second-place Safari lags far behind with a 16% share. Last month, OpenAI said it had 3 million paying business users for ChatGPT.
OpenAI 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, one source said.
With the browser, OpenAI aims to create a new AI-assisted navigation, where internet access is mediated by intelligent agents rather than direct user commands. If it can successfully balance privacy and usability, the company could gain significant ground in this market.