OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas, its first AI-powered browser – madhyamamonline.com
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, its first AI-powered browser, marking the company’s third consumer-facing product.
The browser enters a competitive market, following The Browser Company’s Dia and Perplexity’s Comet.
Like its competitors, ChatGPT Atlas is Chromium-based and includes a sidebar AI assistant, a homepage reminiscent of ChatGPT’s interface, and agentic capabilities.
Currently available only on macOS, ChatGPT Atlas features a minimalist black-and-white design similar to OpenAI’s other apps. The homepage mirrors the ChatGPT interface, with a text box, recent conversations panel, and a centrally placed OpenAI logo. Tabs and shortcuts follow macOS design conventions, with new tabs represented by rounded rectangles and a plus icon.
Unlike ChatGPT, queries in Atlas open on a new page. Five tabs sit at the top — home, web search, images, videos, and news — with the home tab offering AI-human interaction. Here, responses begin with relevant URLs, followed by images and an AI-generated answer, ending with a suggested follow-up question.
The browser includes several notable features but also limitations.
The “browser memory” feature, which personalises the experience over time, was not tested. Agentic capabilities are reserved for paid subscribers. Web search, images, videos, and news tabs are limited to displaying 10–15 results per query. This limitation makes the search function less practical, as the AI often surfaces results tightly tied to keywords rather than deeper content.
The sidebar AI assistant remains the browser’s standout feature.
Powered by the same model as ChatGPT, it can summarise web pages, answer questions about content, provide alternative viewpoints, and navigate to websites based on user requests. It also offers prompt suggestions that adapt to the current webpage, which is helpful for new users.
Testing has revealed some drawbacks.
Searching for a product on Amazon worked, but slowly. On YouTube, the assistant initially failed to answer questions about a video until asked to summarise it, after which it could provide basic answers. Users also encounter a message after roughly 10 interactions stating the GPT-5 plan limit has been reached. While older GPT-4o access continues, ongoing conversations on that tab cannot proceed until a paid plan is used.
Despite these issues, ChatGPT Atlas demonstrates promise with its polished interface, fast speed, and robust AI capabilities in the sidebar assistant. However, limitations in basic browser functions and search features may frustrate some users.
