Sometime soon, perhaps as early as next week, OpenAI will follow up on its release of ChatGPT agent with its AI-enabled web browser.
Officially, neither OpenAI nor its usually chatty CEO, Sam Altman, has anything to say about this browser. Unofficially, it’s an open secret that the company is working on one to compete not just with the already shipping AI-enabled web browsers, Perplexity Comet, and Dia, but with the 800-pound gorilla of web browsers, Google Chrome.
Why? Just look at ChatGPT agent. For all of the usual AI agent tricks in its bag, such as ordering groceries or booking meetings, it’s still an external program that runs its own computer to handle “complex tasks from start to finish,” with a “visual browser that interacts with the web.” Behind the scenes, it leverages Operator’s ability to interact with websites, Deep Research’s skill in synthesizing information, and ChatGPT’s intelligence and conversational fluency to deliver good answers.
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As Altman said at a May 2025 Sequoia Capital event, people use ChatGPT differently depending on age: “Older people use ChatGPT as a Google replacement“while “people in their 20s and 30s use it like a life advisor” and “people in college use it as an operating system.” To do any of these, whether you’re a Boomer, GenX, Millennial, or Generation Alpha, you use a browser.
So it makes perfect sense for OpenAI to offer a dedicated web browser. Today, most of us use our web browsers for all our work. How many tabs do you have open right now? Would you rather open another, separate program or just stay in your browser? Yeah, me too. I’d rather stay in the browser.
What to expect from OpenAI’s AI browser
Therefore, what I expect the program to look like is a Chromium-based web browser — because it’s what everyone outside of Mozilla uses now — with a fully integrated AI assistant. This will combine everything that the current assistant offers with full browser integration. So, for example, just like Comet already does, it will be able to pull data from your open tabs to give better responses to your requests.
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In addition, since Chromium is a de facto industry standard, OpenAI won’t have to reinvent the browser wheel. It will also make it easier for OpenAI’s browser to support existing websites, extensions, and web apps. That way, its developers can focus on integrating advanced AI features.
Early According to reports purporting from developers and beta versions it will also include AI-generated summaries for articles, videos, PDFs, as well as support for images, voices, and files. This builds on capabilities seen in GPT-4o. The browser can also intelligently complete forms based on the user’s intent, in addition to traditional autofill. I use separate email accounts for my business and personal needs. Theoretically it would know that my work account is used for my Delta and Marriott reservations, while my personal account is used for my Amazon orders.
OpenAI will have access to all data and behavior of users if it owns the browser. OpenAI and other AI companies would love to have that same business model.
5 reasons why Perplexity is still my favorite AI chatbot.
This means that the more data OpenAI has access to, the less information you will give to Google or third parties. Altman sees this as a win-win situation.
AI browser competition
OpenAI’s strategy seems to be to embed AI as a digital proxy for the user. OpenAI is the perfect tool to start your day. You can play and work with it until the end of the day. Comet with Perplexity has a more conventional approach. It’s a professional browser that focuses on summarization, context understanding, source citing and cross-tab automatization. It replaces the traditional search engine with Perplexity’s own answer engine.
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Dia, a new build with AI as its default mode of interaction. It promises “workspace OS,” where AI will proactively manage workflows, recall session history, suggest next actions, and contextualize intent. It’s not so much about browsing, but rather letting the AI guide you to your destination and answers.
Don’t forget that Google is also in the race. Google’s approach to AI is incremental, but ambitious. It has been embedding AI conversation into everyday browsing, while avoiding abrupt, disruptive changes. Gemini in Chrome, for example, has brought conversational AI into the browser interface. You can now access Google’s Gemini directly from the current webpage if you subscribe to Google’s AI plans: the $20 per month Google AI Pro plan, or the $250 per month Google AI Ultra plan.
It’s unlikely, however, that Google will integrate AI into its browsers to the same extent as other companies. Remember that the Federal Trade Commission is still pushing Google towards divesting Chrome. Chrome’s case won’t be helped by integrating AI into Chrome. It’s possible. OpenAI could end up buying Chrome.
Microsoft is putting even more effort into AI in its software. Microsoft Edge is now an integrated Copilot browser. Users can access Copilot by typing @copilot into the address bar or clicking the sidebar. This turns the browser into an AI assistant who can answer questions, summarize web pages, and assist with creative tasks without leaving the tab they are currently on.
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Also, as you probably also know, AI is now baked in Windows 11. Microsoft began integrating AI into Windows in the year 2023. Copilot has become such an integral part Windows that Copilot Vision, on Windows 10 and 11 can look over your shoulder to see everything on your screen in order to help you.
Do I need to add that if you use these programs at this point, you can kiss goodbye your privacy?
Which of these programs will you find most useful? Perplexity is my favorite, but it’s still too early to tell. AI programs are changing so rapidly that it is almost impossible to keep pace. I wouldn’t commit at this stage to any of them. I would rather test them out. You’ll probably be using one soon.
