Hey all. So OpenAI just dropped a new thing called ChatGPT Atlas - basically an AI-powered web browser.
It’s “available globally” today… but only on macOS for now.
Windows, iOS, and Android users will have to wait (guess we’re still stuck on regular Chrome and caffeine).
Here’s the pitch: Atlas lets you browse with ChatGPT built right in. You can literally ask it questions about the page you’re on, or tell it to summarize, research, or even help you write.
As someone who lives in tabs all day doing client work, I’ll admit that sounds pretty useful.
Imagine saying: “Hey, summarize this competitor’s site for me” or “Pull out the key stats for a post.” Boom - instant productivity.
But… there’s also the part where it might be seeing everything you see. Like literally everything. Private dashboards, DMs, analytics - the whole show.
That’s where it starts to feel a little too Black Mirror for my taste.
Still, I’m curious. If it works well, it could change how we research and create. If it doesn’t, well at least we’ll have learned not to let an AI watch us scroll Pinterest at 1 AM for “inspiration.”
So what do you think? Would you use an AI-powered browser like this, or is it a hard pass until we know more about what it’s collecting?
Funnily enough, I have been reading about the Perplexity browser, called Comet, which might be worth a look, too. It’s new, launched in July 2025, and it’s built to keep research, outlining, and drafting in the same flow instead of bouncing between a browser and an AI tab. Perplexity has now made it available to everyone for free, with an optional Comet Plus add-on, so it’s not just a closed beta curiosity anymore.
What stands out is how the assistant is wired into the act of reading. You can open a page and trigger a one-click summary with Alt+S, which works across articles, videos, PDFs, and even social posts. If you prefer to talk, Shift+Alt+V opens Voice Mode so you can ask follow-ups or steer the research hands-free. The goal isn’t “AI next to browsing,” it’s AI inside your browsing routine.
Great idea and I think Atlas will be powerful - but my marketer brain immediately asks: who audits the data?
In any normal SaaS tool, there’s a privacy policy, a compliance doc, even a security whitepaper. When an AI browser sees your screen, your data pipeline changes completely.
That doesn’t mean it’s evil - it just means users deserve visibility before adoption.
I’d love to see OpenAI publish a transparent data map (maybe they have?) ... what it logs, what it stores locally, and what gets sent to servers. Until then, I’ll keep testing inside sandboxes.
Honestly, after an initial hesitation I’m liking this.
A year ago I’d have called it “spyware with branding,” but after using AI for research and automation, I can see the upside.
If Atlas can actually read a page, summarise the data, and help me take action without leaving the tab that’s not just a gimmick. That’s a workflow supercharger.
I already use GPT to audit sites and pull patterns from exports, so having that baked straight into the browser could shave hours off boring stuff like scanning SERPs or analysing competitors.
Privacy-wise, yeah, it’s a concern. I won't be logging into internet banking with it ... lol. But realistically? Chrome, Facebook, and half the analytics tools we use already know what I had for breakfast.
If Atlas can turn that data awareness into useful insights rather than just ads, I’m fine with it. The real test will be whether it makes creators faster - or just more distracted.
Either way, I’m installing it on my Mac tonight. Someone has to poke the bear.
@rohanm That's a lot of memory that it's pulling in from you - and like Sarah pointed out, what are the privacy terms, if they have any?
Unfortunately, I would probably agree with you on most of what you said - this is the way of the future and so I sort of half-heartedly embrace it, but way too much privacy issues for me. I think we need an open-source LLM to come out soon for us privacy-centric people to use, lol.
The “memory” part is what gives me pause. In a chat, memory is convenient. In a browser, it’s basically your entire digital footprint taking notes.
If it stays local, great. If it syncs to the cloud “to improve your experience,” not so great. That’s when your browsing habits start auditioning for their own reality show.
I’ll probably try Atlas, but only in sandbox mode - no logins, no sensitive tabs. I won't be confessing my life story. 😄
If Atlas is really capturing full-page context, clicks, scrolls, and who knows what else, that’s not just a browser anymore - that’s a black box with my own personal UX. Somewhere, a data centre is quietly building my digital twin while I’m just trying to check backlinks.
Still, if it remembers the useful stuff - the client research, half-written ideas, or the fifty SEO tabs we keep losing track of - users might forgive it. We all gave Google and Facebook everything after all 😅
Supremely useful, no doubt but let’s be honest, the more this thing “learns,” the more it feels like we’re all living in The Matrix for real but we signed the T's & C's 🕶️
So my amigo in Barcelona has been trying Atlas all week and keeps sending me quick updates. He says it seems to talk a lot but doesn’t do much on its own. The memory thing sounds a bit loco too. It remembered what he’d been researching and brought it up days later like “hey, still thinking about those hotel conversion rates?” like it's his new best friend.
I tell you what though, one user said they trusted it to do their online shopping. Like actually check out on it's own! I won't be doing that any time soon!
Difficult keeping up with it all!