{"id":100459,"date":"2025-10-27T03:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=100459"},"modified":"2025-10-27T03:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:25:00","slug":"chatgpts-new-browser-has-potential-if-youre-willing-to-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=100459","title":{"rendered":"ChatGPT\u2019s new browser has potential, if you\u2019re willing to pay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 3 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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A few minutes into using ChatGPT Atlas, the new internet browser from OpenAI, I ran into quite a big roadblock.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t like Google Chrome, which is used by roughly 60% of people. It\u2019s all built around a chatbot you\u2019re meant to talk to to surf the web.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessages limit reached,\u201d read one note. \u201cNo available models support the tools in use,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

And then: \u201cYou\u2019ve hit the free plan limit for GPT-5.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI\u00a0says it will make using the internet easier\u00a0and more efficient. A step closer to \u201ca true super-assistant\u201d.<\/p>\n

But assistants, super or not, don\u2019t come free \u2013 and the company needs to start making a lot more money from its 800 million users.<\/p>\n

So, how helpful is it?<\/h2>\n

OpenAI says Atlas offers us an opportunity to \u201crethink what it means to use the web\u201d.<\/p>\n

It looks somewhat similar to Chrome or Apple\u2019s Safari to begin with, apart from the big difference \u2013 a sidebar chatbot.<\/p>\n

On the BBC News website, for example, it suggests it could show me the trending stories or filter stories according to my interests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a train booking website, it offered to \u201chighlight deals\u201d or compare prices with other places.<\/p>\n

I asked it to book me a train, but was told this is only available for paying ChatGPT customers.<\/p>\n

Later, I tried something simpler: I asked it to take me to an article I was reading the other day, but couldn\u2019t quite remember what website it was on.<\/p>\n

Atlas rapidly searched my browsing history and opened the page for me in a matter of seconds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are early days, but there\u2019s potential for big changes in how we use the internet.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear is that this will be a premium product which will only work to its full capacity if you pay a subscription fee.<\/p>\n

Given that we are so used to browsing the internet for free, this would require a lot of people to alter their habits quite dramatically.<\/p>\n

Money, data, competition<\/h2>\n

OpenAI\u2019s founding mission was to reach artificial general intelligence \u2013 roughly meaning an AI which can match human intelligence.<\/p>\n

So how does a browser help with that mission?<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t, really. But it could raise some revenue.<\/p>\n

The firm has convinced venture capitalists and investors to back it with billions of dollars \u2013 and at some point, it needs to start showing a return on that investment.<\/p>\n

In other words, it needs to make money.<\/p>\n

The chatbot still struggled with some basic commands \u2013 in these examples, it gave two very different responses when I said \u201cyes please\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But raising money the internet\u2019s traditional way \u2013 advertising \u2013 might be a risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpenAI may be tempted to show ads to recoup costs and turn a profit, but it also must deliver a good user experience to stand out in a competitive market,\u201d said Stephanie Liu, a senior analyst at Forrester.<\/p>\n

OpenAI will be hoping its users will find it so good they are willing to start paying \u2013 but only about 5% of ChatGPT users pay for a subscription, according to the\u00a0Financial Times.<\/p>\n

The other thing Atlas could do is give the firm access to a huge amount of user data.<\/p>\n

These kinds of AI tools are ultimately about scale \u2013 the more data you feed them, the thinking goes, the better they will become.<\/p>\n

The web is designed for humans to use, so if Atlas can monitor us \u2013 how we book train tickets for example \u2013 it can learn how to better navigate these kinds of processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains to be seen how OpenAI will use users\u2019 data from Atlas, but for users who prefer anonymity and privacy, the browser may be too great of a risk,\u201d said Ms Liu.<\/p>\n

The Google killer<\/h2>\n

Then we get to the competition.<\/p>\n

Google Chrome is so dominant, authorities around the world have started\u00a0raising eyebrows\u00a0and words like \u201cmonopoly\u201d are being thrown around.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be easy to muscle into that market.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Gemini AI is a part of the search engine now, while Microsoft has added Copilot into its Edge browser.<\/p>\n

Back in the early days of ChatGPT, some dubbed it the \u201cGoogle killer\u201d \u2013 a game-changer which would make online search as we know it redundant.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not happened yet. But Erik Goins, founder of app developer Flywheel Studios, thinks it could.<\/p>\n

He said Google built its business on \u201cbeing the middleman between users and websites\u201d, whereas ChatGPT is \u201celiminating the middleman entirely\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t search for \u2018hotels in Miami\u2019 and click through Google results anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just ask ChatGPT and it connects you directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether enough people are willing to pay for that little bit of extra convenience remains to be seen \u2013 and there\u2019s a long way to go before Google is toppled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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