OpenAI challenges Google on browser: Chrome's AI competitor coming soon

A browser to make the Internet chatbot-friendly. OpenAI, according to Reuters, is ready to launch a web browser based on its generative artificial intelligence. The strategy is to challenge Alphabet's Google Chrome, which dominates the browser market with percentages of over 90 per cent. According to the news agency, OpenAi could thus on the one hand undermine the competition of Gemini, Google's chatbot, and on the other hand radically change the way users surf the web.

This move would give OpenAI more direct access to one of the keys to Google's success: user data. If adopted by ChatGPT's 500 million weekly active users, OpenAI's browser could put pressure on a crucial element of Google's advertising revenue stream. Indeed, Chrome is a key pillar of Alphabet's advertising business, accounting for almost three quarters of the company's revenues: the browser provides user information useful to improve advertising effectiveness and profitability, as well as automatically directing searches to Google's engine. Recall that Google Chrome is used by more than 3 billion people and holds more than two-thirds of the global browser market, according to analyst firm StatCounter. Apple's Safari, in second place, is far behind with 16 per cent. Last month, OpenAI said it had 3 million paid business users for ChatGPT.

Sam Altman's new toy would be designed to keep some user interactions within a chat interface similar to ChatGPT, instead of automatically redirecting to websites. The browser is part of a broader OpenAI strategy to integrate its services into users' personal and working lives, one of the sources told Reuters. It would also allow OpenAI to directly integrate products such as the AI Operator agent, capable of performing actions on behalf of the user, directly into the browsing experience.