The browser wars just got interesting. Reuters reported yesterday that OpenAI is launching an AI-powered web browser in the coming weeks. Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that OpenAI will integrate ChatGPT directly into browsing, letting AI agents fill out forms, book reservations, and handle tasks without clicking through to websites.
This is a direct assault on Google's data empire. Chrome sits at the center of Alphabet's advertising machine, which generates nearly three-quarters of the company's revenue. Every search, every click, every moment you spend browsing feeds Google's targeting algorithms. OpenAI wants that data stream for itself.
The timing is perfect. The Department of Justice has already ruled that Google holds an unlawful monopoly in search and demanded Chrome's divestiture. Meanwhile, Perplexity launched its own AI browser called Comet this week for its $200/month subscribers. The Browser Company released Dia in beta last month.
Here's what OpenAI gets right: they're building on Chromium (Google's own open-source code) but keeping interactions inside a ChatGPT-like interface instead of sending users to external websites. Smart move. If ChatGPT's 400 million weekly users migrate to this browser, it creates a massive new data collection opportunity while potentially starving Google of traffic.
OpenAI even hired two former Google VPs who helped build Chrome. In April, an OpenAI executive testified they'd be interested in buying Chrome if antitrust enforcers force a sale. This isn't a coincidence.
But... Chrome commands over two-thirds of the global browser market with more than 3 billion users. Safari is a distant second at 16 per cent. Building a better browser isn't enough. OpenAI needs to convince people to change their daily habits for something fundamentally different.
This is one of the big fights for the future and Google isn't sitting still. They're already integrating AI features into Chrome and, as you know, Google has virtually unlimited resources and quite a bit to fight for.
The web is going to become conversational, and whoever owns that conversation owns the web. OpenAI is betting that AI agents will become the new search engines, and browsers will become their natural habitat.
As always, your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. -s
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
