OpenAI has unveiled a new AI-powered browser that offers a preview of how users will navigate the web and shop online with AI agents in the future.
The company behind ChatGPT introduced Atlas, an AI-based browser centered on the chatbot, currently available exclusively on macOS for paying users.
This new tool boasts numerous features, including browser memories that enable ChatGPT to retain context from users’ browsing activities. However, the standout feature is “agent mode.”
In agent mode, Atlas can research, analyze information, and automate tasks in real-time while users browse. It can also navigate tabs and click through to accomplish tasks on users’ behalf, as per OpenAI’s explanation.
“It’s now more effective at researching and analyzing, automating tasks, and organizing events or booking appointments while you browse.”
In-browser personal assistant
Agent mode in Atlas effectively incorporates a personal assistant right within the web browser.
Users can automate various tasks, such as planning a dinner party while the AI agent finds a recipe, searches for stores with the required ingredients, adds them to a cart, and arranges for delivery.
Atlas comes with several safety measures, such as preventing code execution in the browser, downloading files, or installing extensions. It cannot access other apps on users’ devices or their file systems, and will pause before taking actions on sensitive sites, like financial institutions.
Related: Donut Labs secures $7M to launch first ‘agentic’ crypto browser
Glimpse into the future of agentic AI
The OpenAI browser represents one of the initial glimpses of a future where agentic AI is integrated into technology, potentially bolstered by blockchain.
“We’ve entered the age of AI agents,” remarked Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communication officer, earlier this year.
“This emerging vision of the internet is an open agentic web, where AI agents make decisions and execute tasks on behalf of users or organizations,” he stated at that time.
Recently, AI “agentic commerce” became a prominent topic at the Fed’s Payment Innovation Conference, highlighted by ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood, Coinbase’s CFO Alesia Haas, and Google Cloud’s head of strategy Richard Widmann discussing the benefits of AI agents for autonomous payment frameworks.
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