Forget Chrome – your next web browser could make net surfing a thing of the past

For the last couple of decades, we've associated Google with the internet and vice versa. Not necessarily the company's browser, Chrome, as there are a number of alternatives people use, but Google has long been the primary gateway to information.

That could soon change, however. The arrival of AI could introduce a whole new way to access and use the internet – and Google may not have the monopoly this time.

OpenAI, for example, announced its own browser last week in the form of ChatGPT Atlas, and while it's a web browser like Chrome and Safari, it also has the popular ChatGPT chatbot at its heart. This forms the main element of the search experience.

Not only could this give Google serious food for thought and a rival with a decent amount of clout, it could change the way you surf the net generally. By introducing AI at the very heart of the search and browser experience, ChatGPT Atlas could become your one stop shop for queries beyond looking for information from the world wide web.

What could ChatGPT's Atlas browser mean for the future?

As CNN Business suggested, Atlas is "more than just a way to expand ChatGPT, which now has more than 800 million weekly users.

"It’s an attempt to become the pathway to websites, social media and other online services, giving it a more direct role in everything people do online."

When you open Atlas up, you get a ChatGPT search bar rather than Google's and you will also get suggestions of topics, as well as tasks ChatGPT might be able to handle for you.

You can also just tap a button to have ChatGPT appear in a sidebar where the AI assistant can then summarise a page or answer questions you might have.

There's also an agent mode that can handle tasks on your behalf. None of that is too dissimilar from what Google offers on Chrome with its Gemini assistant, but if OpenAI can make its web browser as popular as ChatGPT has in little more than a year, Google may have a reason to be concerned its dominance may be under threat.

You can try ChatGPT Atlas for yourself today, by heading to the dedicated webpage and downloading the specific version for your Mac or PC. And if you still can't find it, just try Googling it.