OpenAI is set to overthrow Chrome, starting with "no more copy-pasting."
Open the browser to view course PPTs, and then switch to ChatGPT to ask questions. When organizing the recruitment information viewed last week, you have to rummage through the history records and then copy them into the dialog box. When you want to book a restaurant for a dinner party, you have to search for reviews and fill in information by yourself. The "disconnect" between using browsers and AI in the past may be ended by ChatGPT Atlas.
On October 21, 2025, OpenAI dropped a bombshell: the native browser Atlas centered around ChatGPT. It's not just adding an AI plugin to Chrome, nor is it adding a web browsing button to ChatGPT. Instead, it integrates the "chatbot" and the "browser" into one. This "unconventional" design may have hit the biggest pain point in the current combination of AI and tools - the context is always broken.
Three "counter - intuitive" designs of Atlas: not adding features, but restructuring logic
Most browsers add AI in a "patchy" way. For example, Chrome adds a Gemini sidebar, and Perplexity Comet adds an answer summary. However, Atlas has a completely different approach - it aims to make ChatGPT the "operating system" of the browser, rather than an "add - on feature".
Sidebar + Cursor chat: eliminate the action of "copy - paste"
"Previously, I had to take screenshots of PPTs and send them to ChatGPT. Now, it directly knows what I'm looking at." This is the feedback from Yogya Kalra, an early tester and a college student. The core change in Atlas is to "bind" the ChatGPT dialog window with the web page content. When you open any page, the ChatGPT in the sidebar will automatically capture the current content context. You don't need to manually copy text, upload images, or paste links.
More specifically, there is the "cursor chat" function. Select a sentence in the document and click a button, and ChatGPT can directly modify or interpret it. For example, if there is a convoluted sentence in an email, you can select it and let the AI straighten it out. For unfamiliar terms on a web page, just highlight them and you'll get an explanation. This "click - to - interact" approach compresses the previous three - step process of "switching windows - transmitting information - waiting for a reply" into one step.
Browser memory: from "forgetful" to "actively connecting for you"
The history records of ordinary browsers are just a series of cold URLs. However, Atlas's "browser memory" is a "context library" that ChatGPT can understand. You can ask it, "Organize all the recruitment information I viewed last week into an industry trend table to help me prepare for an interview." It will automatically associate the job pages you've browsed without you having to manually filter them.
OpenAI clearly knows that privacy is a sensitive issue. This function is optional by default, and all memories can be viewed, archived in the settings. Deleting the browsing history will also synchronously delete the relevant memories. However, the problem is that when the browser starts to "remember" your work, shopping, and even reading habits, is it a "super assistant" or a "personal monitor"? Users have to draw this line themselves.
Proxy mode: from "helping you think" to "helping you do", but only for paying users
The most "ambitious" function of Atlas is the "proxy mode". When you ask it to book a restaurant, it will open the reservation website by itself, filter the ratings, and fill in your time preferences. When you ask it to organize a competitor report, it will automatically open the official websites of several companies and download the financial report summaries. However, this function has two limitations: currently, it is only available to Plus, Pro, and Business users, and OpenAI admits that "it may make mistakes in complex tasks".
TechCrunch's tests show that the proxy mode can handle simple tasks such as "adding to the shopping cart" and "summarizing news" without problems. However, when it comes to complex processes like "comparing flights across websites + synchronizing with the calendar", it is likely to get stuck in the login process or miss filling in information. This also exposes a common problem with AI browsers: the premise for AI to "take over" is that the website is willing to let the AI "understand" its pages. OpenAI has called on developers to add ARIA labels to websites. Otherwise, the proxy mode will be "a clever woman can't cook without rice".
The battle of AI browsers: OpenAI's cards, opponents' game
Atlas is not the first to venture into the AI browser field. As early as the summer of 2024, Perplexity launched the Comet browser, which features "providing direct answers instead of piling up links". Google also announced in September 2025 that it would deeply integrate Gemini into Chrome, claiming that it could help users "automatically order coffee and make doctor appointments". However, once OpenAI entered the game, it changed the logic of this war.
Opponents' advantages: either fast or stable
The core of Perplexity Comet is an "answer engine". When you search for "new energy vehicle sales in 2025", it won't give you 10 links. Instead, it will directly generate a summary report and can also scan your open tabs for a summary. This "fast, accurate, and decisive" style has attracted a group of users who find Google Search "too cumbersome".
Chrome's moat has never been about having a large number of features, but rather "ecosystem inertia". The bookmarks, passwords, and plugin ecosystems of its 3 billion users cannot be easily disrupted by a single AI feature. Google's strategy of integrating Gemini into Chrome is about "seamless integration". For example, when you are reading an email in Chrome, Gemini can directly help you create a schedule without having to switch to other apps.
OpenAI's card: not a "browser", but an "entry point to the ChatGPT ecosystem"
Atlas's real advantage is not that it is better at summarizing answers than Comet, nor that it has more features than Chrome. Instead, it relies on ChatGPT's "memory ecosystem". The content you've chatted about and the pages you've browsed in Atlas can be directly associated with your previous ChatGPT conversations. For example, if you chatted with ChatGPT last month about "how to write a product manager resume", when you use Atlas to view job requirements now, it will automatically remind you to "highlight your project experience here".
This "cross - scenario memory" is something other browsers don't have. No matter how fast Comet's answers are, they are "one - time". No matter how seamless Chrome's Gemini integration is, it is still confined within the boundaries of the browser. However, Atlas aims to make the browser a part of ChatGPT's "super assistant". When you use it to browse, chat, and do things, all data flows within one ecosystem.
The battle of AI browsers: OpenAI's cards, opponents' game
Although OpenAI has hyped up Atlas, there are still three hurdles to overcome before it can overthrow Chrome's dominance.
Cross - platform lag: missing the "first wave of user habit cultivation"
Currently, Atlas only supports macOS, and Windows, iOS, and Android versions will be launched "later". The user stickiness of browsers largely comes from "multi - device synchronization". If you use Atlas on your computer but still have to use Chrome on your phone, this disconnect will put off many users. By the time Atlas is available on all platforms, a group of users may have already gotten used to Comet or Chrome Gemini.
Privacy is a double - edged sword: the more useful the "memory", the more concerns there are
Although Atlas allows users to control "browser memory", when the AI starts to associate the medical pages and financial websites you've browsed, concerns about data security will be magnified. OpenAI says it "won't use browsing content to train the model", but will users believe it? Especially for enterprise users, will they refuse to use Atlas to handle work content due to concerns about data leakage?
The "ceiling" of the proxy mode: depends on whether developers are on board
For Atlas's proxy mode to work well, website developers need to cooperate by adding ARIA labels. Otherwise, the AI won't be able to understand the meanings of page buttons and forms and won't be able to "take over". If developers aren't on board (for example, e - commerce platforms are worried that AI will affect conversion rates, and financial websites are concerned about security risks), the proxy mode can only handle simple tasks and won't become a "killer feature".
The "AI - native" era of browsers has just begun
The release of Atlas is not so much OpenAI declaring war on Chrome as it is "redefining the browser". In the past, browsers were "tools for opening web pages". Now, Atlas wants to turn them into "assistants to help you complete tasks". This transformation, similar to how the iPhone redefined mobile phones in 2007 and Chrome redefined browsers in 2010, may mark the beginning of a new cycle.
Ultimately, what determines Atlas's success or failure is not how smart its AI is, but whether it can solve "users' real laziness": no need to remember URLs, no need to copy - paste, and no need to switch between multiple apps. As for whether it can defeat Chrome, it's too early to draw a conclusion. After all, it's harder for users to switch from a browser they've used for ten years than to switch their phones.
In the next six months, three points are worth paying attention to: the user experience of the Windows and mobile versions, developers' acceptance of ARIA labels, and whether Google will accelerate the integration of more aggressive AI features into Chrome. After all, the war of AI browsers has just begun.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Shanzi". Author: Shanzi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.