AI: OpenAI Shoulders new responsibilities with Atlas AI Browser. RTZ #882

OpenAI is now shouldering a major responsibility with its next AI mainstream commitment. It’s their long-awaited AI Browser, Atlas.

Regular readers know I’ve been discussing the coming flurry of AI Browsers for months now, both for consumers and the enterprise. As well as the long-expected AI Browser from the King of LLM AIs, OpenAI itself. We got that today with Atlas, going up against Google, Perplexity, Apple and many others. And the details are notable to discuss. And some candid first impressions and cautious reviews. With many more to follow.

But, first, let’s discusses the high level takeaways. Axios summarizes them well in “OpenAI is launching a web browser called Atlas”:

“OpenAI on Tuesday announced a next-generation web browser, Atlas, as the company seeks to expand from an app into a broader computing platform.”

“Why it matters: The move is likely to intensify the battle over how humans — and their AI agents — experience the internet.”

• “Atlas is based on Chromium, the open-source engine that powers Google’s Chrome, among other browsers.”

As discussed, they join a building line of AI Browser offerings:

“Zoom out: OpenAI isn’t the first AI company to see the value in having a browser. Perplexity has Comet, while Google and Microsoft have their existing browsers that could become real estate for future AI features.”

• “The moves come as traffic from bots is expected to surpass that from humans in the coming years.”

The core rationalization is logical:

“What they’re saying: “We think that AI represents a rare once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about and how to use one and how to most productively and pleasantly use the web,” Altman said as part of the announcement.”

“How it works: Atlas lets you take ChatGPT with you as you browse the web.”

• “Tabs are great but we haven’t seen a whole lot of innovation since then,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a livestream.”

• “Atlas includes an “Ask ChatGPT” sidebar that allows you to ask questions about the web pages you visit.”

• “Atlas will be live worldwide for Mac users Tuesday, with the agent mode limited to paid Plus and Pro subscribers.”

• “We want to bring this to Windows and mobile users as quickly as we can,” Altman said.”

And of course, OpenAI is emphasizing the AI Agent aspect of their browsers.

“Agent mode in Atlas lets the AI engine handle certain tasks more autonomously.”

• “You can watch it or you don’t have to,” Altman said.”

• I”n a demo, OpenAI showed there is a “take control” and a red “stop” button when the browser is taking action in Agent mode.”

AI Trust and Privacy of course is matter up for discussion:

“Yes, but: Combining ChatGPT and the browser offers powerful capabilities, but also raises issues around privacy and security.”

“The fine print: OpenAI says Atlas users can choose to be logged into accounts or not and can browse in “incognito” mode.”

• “Any browsing done in incognito mode isn’t linked to your ChatGPT account and isn’t saved in your browser history, OpenAI said.”

• “In addition to being able to save cookies and passwords, Atlas has an optional “memories” feature that offers deeper personalization.”

• “By default, OpenAI says it won’t use Atlas browsing data to train its models unless people opt in, and it won’t use business users’ data at all.”

“The big picture: OpenAI has been taking steps to morph into its own kind of platform or operating system, with a barrage of announcements in the past month.”

That flood of AI Applications is of course to be integrated into Atlas in various forms.

“ChatGPT Pulse is a kind of centralized dashboard that prompts users with proactive updates based on chat history.”

• “The Sora app for creating and sharing AI-generated video is OpenAI’s shot across the social bow at Meta and TikTok.”

• “The company opened up ChatGPT to developers in early October. Users can summon apps like Spotify and Zillow, asking for them by name in a chat.”

• “It’s also been building the ability to buy goods from within ChatGPT, with Etsy as its first partner, to be followed by a host of Shopify apps. Walmart says a new ChatGPT instant checkout experience is “coming soon.”

The plan it to roll it out on desktops for all tiers of ChatGPT users, with other platforms and tiers to follow with more capabilities.

“Between the lines: OpenAI is trying to woo people to Atlas by promising an increase in ChatGPT data limits for 7 days for those who set and maintain Atlas as their default browser.”

• “The promotion is open to both free and paid ChatGPT users and after 7 days one’s regular limits apply.”

“Our thought bubble: Adding a browser gives OpenAI access to more data and makes it an even more integral part of the computing experience, but it’s also likely to further increase the company’s costs without immediately boosting revenue, though it could drive consumer subscriptions.”

“What to watch: How quickly users adopt the new browser, and whether it can make a dent in Chrome’s dominant market share.”

“OpenAI’s new Atlas browser offers powerful new capabilities, though the combination of Web and chatbot data opens up a new world of risks related to privacy and security.”

“Why it matters: People are already sharing some of their most sensitive thoughts and information with ChatGPT.”

With Atlas, the next major OpenAI shoe has now dropped in this AI Tech Wave.

And with it comes the implementation and improvements in the months to come. As well as real world evidence of mainstream behavior changes, by millions in how they use the internet. Stay tuned.

(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)