ChatGPT Atlas isn't competing against other browsers
Published on
22 Oct 2025
“Tabs were great, but we haven’t seen a lot of browser innovation since then.” These are brave words spoken by the CEO of a company that's using Chromium to power their new browser, which, at the time of writing this, they even failed to attribute correctly. I wish I could say I'm shocked, but this is a company led by someone who thinks artists, creators, writers, etc should not be paid for their work.
These are the words of someone who doesn't understand browser development or the web platform and the years of work it can take to evolve and move web standards forward. Building a browser is about more than just the technology and software design, it's also a community effort. It's about working together across companies to reach a consensus with users and developers in mind. This is the heart of what moves the web platform.
Innovation in the browser space extends beyond what your typical consumer can see in the UX. Innovation can be quiet and in the details of what we unlock for developers to be able to build with. It's buried in the code that is slowly designed for developers by community input, working groups and invited experts.
I can't help but feel Sam has a fundamental misunderstanding of what innovation means. This is not the first AI browser, and it certainly won't be the last. AI in the browser is not new, and for many it's been ruining search results and the experience of searching on the web.
The web platform as a whole needs more sustainable funding. If you want to see more innovation in the browser space, then we need more money for the web platform. Is your company going to pay for browser features to get built? Is it going to get involved in the standards process? Is it going to contribute meaningfully back to the open source ecosystem? Or is it going to continue to take from a digital ecosystem, relying on the hard work and funds of other companies? A particularly egregious route to take when your company is valued at more than $500 billion.
Without the web platform, you wouldn't have been able to loudly proclaim you have a browser for your AI. But Atlas? This is not what innovation in the browser space looks like.
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