OpenAI Reportedly Prepping Browser to Take on Google Chrome

OpenAI is reportedly readying an AI-powered web browser to challenge Google Chrome.

This browser is set to debut in the coming weeks, Reuters reported Wednesday (July 9), citing sources familiar with the matter, with the goal of employing artificial intelligence (AI) to change how people browse the web.

The report argues that this browser would allow OpenAI better access to one of the keys to Google success: user data. And if the 500 million weekly users of OpenAI’s ChatGPT were to adopt this browser, this could eat into Google’s ad revenue, 75% of which comes from Chrome, the report added.

Sources told Reuters the OpenAI’s browser is designed to keep some user interactions inside a ChatGPT-like native chat interface rather than clicking through to websites, and that the browser is tied to a larger plan by OpenAI to meld its services with users’ work and home lives.

A spokesperson for OpenAI declined to comment when reached by PYMNTS.

As Reuters notes, OpenAI has been facing heavy competition from Google and rival AI firm Anthropic, and is seeking new paths to growth. The company in May said it would enter the device space as it paid $6.5 billion for io, the startup run by ex-Apple design chief Jony Ive.

The news came the same day that another AI company — Perplexity — unveiled its new web browser, dubbed Comet, which allows users to answer questions, conduct tasks and carry out research from a single interface.

PYMNTS examined the state of AI-powered search — and the possible future of Google — last week in an interview with Adam Behrens, CEO of retail AI tech startup New Generation.

He said that in five years, Google will no longer be “a list of links,” but “a service where you get answers, then actions, which changes how people shop and what they expect.”

“The traditional ad model starts to break down because there’s less screen space and fewer choices; you either show up ready to be picked, or you’re invisible,” Behrens added.

“For brands, it means they can’t just live behind a website anymore. They need to show up across the entire AI ecosystem so they’re shoppable, searchable and ready for whatever agent your customer is using.”

The stakes are growing higher, that report added. The average AI search visitor is 4.4 times more valuable than the average visit from the standard search based on conversion rates, per data from Semrush.