6 Questions About ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI’s New Intelligent Browser

In case you have not yet heard, OpenAI has just launched another product to add to its portfolio: ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered browser designed to function as a proactive personal assistant. It is capable of understanding the context of the website you are visiting and assisting you in real time with summaries, contextual searches, and task automation.

With this announcement, the company led by Sam Altman, who personally officiated the launch, seeks to compete with other technology companies that have already integrated AI into their browsing systems: Gemini and Google, Comet and Perplexity, or Copilot and Edge.

In this article, we shall address the six key questions about ChatGPT Atlas: what it is, who can use it, how it operates, what sets it apart, what additional features it offers compared to ChatGPT, and other pertinent questions.

1. What is ChatGPT Atlas

ChatGPT Atlas is, in essence, a web browser created by OpenAI that merges the traditional browsing experience with the conversational artificial intelligence of ChatGPT. Instead of merely displaying web pages, Atlas allows the assistant to “reside” alongside your browser window and assist you in interacting with the contents you are viewing. According to the official launch page, the concept is that you browse as usual, but with “a person / AI” next to you who understands what you are viewing and can assist you. Its interface is reminiscent of a modern browser (tabs, favorites, navigation modes).

2. Who can use ChatGPT Atlas

If you have macOS, you can already use it free of charge. You simply need to visit this link and follow the installation steps. It is available to users of the Free, Plus, Pro, and Go versions worldwide, and in beta for Business users. The advanced “Agent Mode,” which allows the AI to execute complex tasks (such as automating a purchase or a reservation), is restricted to ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro subscribers. If you are a free user, you will have access to the AI integration, but more advanced automation features require a paid subscription.

OpenAI has already confirmed that it is working on versions for Windows and for mobile devices (iOS and Android), so they are expected to be released soon.

3. How does Atlas work?

Atlas is based on the Chromium engine, and its key capability lies in allowing the AI, while you are browsing, to function as an additional layer: when you are on a webpage, it installs a ChatGPT panel or functionality that understands the content, its context, and enables you to ask questions or request actions directly from there. The AI can “read” what you are viewing—in the sense of processing the page—and assist you in summarizing, rephrasing, comparing, or drawing conclusions without the need to copy and paste or switch applications.

This means that the AI is not merely an add-on but a fundamental part. You can invoke it (much like a spirit of Sam Altman) at any moment through a sidebar that enables you to converse with the model and request actions based on the current page’s content. For example, if you are reading an eCommerce trends report, you may ask it in the sidebar: “Give me the three most important growth data points” without needing to exit or copy the text.

4. How does Atlas differ from a traditional browser such as Chrome?

The primary difference lies in its contextual capacity and its agentic nature. Whereas a traditional browser is limited to displaying pages, enabling tabs, bookmarks, extensions, and so forth, Atlas adds a persistent conversational layer that includes:

• Contextual Memory (if the user consents): it remembers the pages you have visited and the information you have already provided, using that context to offer you more personalized assistance.
• Agent Mode: it can perform actions within the web environment, such as clicking, filling in fields, navigating on your behalf to complete a task, and even automating certain operations.

This “browser + AI” integration is what places it in a different category.

5. What additional features does Atlas offer that the ChatGPT chatbot does not possess?

By operating within the browsing environment, Atlas gains capabilities that the pure chat version cannot provide. For example:

• In-Context Editing and Assistance (Cursor Chat): you may request that ChatGPT assist you in composing an email in Gmail or revising a draft directly within the editing window of that platform, without the need to copy and paste text between windows.
• Interaction with Web Elements: “Agent Mode” enables it to interact with buttons, forms, and menus on the web to execute complex tasks, something that is impossible for an external chatbot.
• Natural Language Search in History and Bookmarks: you can ask the AI to search your browsing history or bookmarks with phrases like: “Where did I save the website for the SEO tool that Juan recommended to me?”

6. What about privacy?

ChatGPT Atlas assists you in exploring the web with ChatGPT, but you retain control over what it remembers about you, how your data is used, and the privacy settings that are applied as you browse. To this end, OpenAI has included specific tools:

• Browser Memory Control: you may deactivate “memories” at any time. By doing so, the browser will cease storing details of your browsing or the tasks you performed for future use.
• Incognito Mode: when enabled, the user is temporarily disconnected from ChatGPT. In this mode, the browser does not save any activity records nor utilize that information for model training purposes.
• Data Usage for Training: users have the option to prevent their browsing data from being used to improve ChatGPT models. Control over what the AI learns from you is explicit and manageable within the settings.

By default, your data is used for the development and improvement of OpenAI’s products. Nevertheless, as explained, users may disable this option in the browser’s privacy settings. This is a crucial feature for those with substantial amounts of sensitive information involved in their daily browsing.

Do you have any other questions about Atlas? Leave them in the comments below 👇

Photo: OpenAI