OpenAI’s AI-powered browser, ChatGPT Atlas, launches today on macOS

OpenAI’s long-rumored browser has a name, and you can try it today, provided you’re an Apple user. ChatGPT Atlas is available for download on macOS, with the company promising to bring it to Windows, Android and iOS soon. Atlas integrates ChatGPT directly into the browser interface, allowing users to interact with the chatbot while they surf the web — no need to switch between tabs or copy and paste content.

When you select a text field, an icon will appear that allows you to invite ChatGPT. OpenAI demonstrated this feature in Gmail, where an employee asked the chatbot to polish an email he was writing to a colleague. Naturally, a prompt bar will also appear when you open a new tab, and you can open a sidebar where you can chat with ChatGPT at any time.

The more you use Atlas, the more ChatGPT will “remember” your preferences. One of the benefits of this feature is that you will be able to filter your search history more easily. For example, you can write “reopen the shoes I looked at yesterday” and ChatGPT will know the specific website you want to look at again. Browser memories are optional, and if you decide to enable the feature, you can manage them through the settings menu, and like any other browser, you can delete your history or go surfing the web using an incognito mode. OpenAI also says it will not use content viewed by users to train its future models.

Atlas also includes an agent mode where ChatGPT can surf the web for you and perform tasks. The feature builds on the Operator technology launched earlier this year and is currently available as a preview in the browser for Plus, Pro, and Business accounts to try. “It can help you book reservations or flights or even just edit a document you’re working on,” Adam Fry, product manager for ChatGPT Search, said during the livestream where OpenAI announced Atlas.

“Tabs are great, but we haven’t seen a lot of innovation in browsers since then,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the start of the livestream. “It’s simply a great browser in every way: it’s smooth, fast and really nice to use.”

Rumors that OpenAI was working on its own web browser first surfaced in July. With today’s announcement, the company joins an already competitive market. A number of companies, including Opera and Perplexity, launched their own “agent” browsers earlier this year. Of course, there’s also Google, which plans to integrate its Gemini AI assistant more deeply into Chrome, the world’s most popular browser, over the coming months.