OpenAI is shutting down Atlas, but its AI browser ambitions are still growing Rebecca Bellan 3:03 PM PDT · July 9, 2026 OpenAI is sunsetting Atlas, the AI-powered browser it launched in October with ChatGPT at its core. But it’s not giving up on the idea that AI should help people browse the web. Instead, it’s taking some of the agentic browsing features it tested in Atlas and redistributing them across ChatGPT’s desktop app and a Google Chrome extension.
The move to shut down Atlas comes a few months after OpenAI’s CEO of applications Fidji Simo told the team to cut back on “side quests,” which led to the AI firm shutting down its AI video-generation tool Sora .
For much of the past year, the AI industry had been engaged in a war to unseat Chrome as the place where people spend most of their time online. Perplexity launched Comet, The Browser Company launched Dia, and Google and Microsoft have updated Chrome and Edge, respectively, with new AI-powered features.
After a few months of experimenting, OpenAI appears to have concluded that the browser is a feature, not the destination. So it’s folding Atlas’ browser-like agent capabilities into the places people already work — and that includes Chrome.
OpenAI is launching a ChatGPT extension on Chrome that gives it access to the context of the page you’re viewing, lets users ask questions about web pages, summarize content, or start longer tasks all from the browser. It’s a direct competitor to Google’s Gemini Side Panel, which performs several of the same tasks.
OpenAI is also boosting its ChatGPT desktop app by featuring a more robust browser that allows users to browse websites, log into accounts, download files, and interact with web pages without leaving ChatGPT. A separate cloud browser runs remotely on OpenAI’s servers as a place where the app’s agents can complete tasks on a user’s behalf.
Together, the updates turn ChatGPT into a continuous workspace that spans Chrome, the desktop app, and an AI agent.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission . This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Rebecca Bellan Senior Reporter
Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications.
You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal.
November 4 Boston Last chance to save up to $190 on TechCrunch Founder Summit. Join 1,000+ founders and VCs at all stages for real-world scaling insights and connections that move the needle. Savings end June 26, 11:59 p.m. PT .
Most Popular Figma acquires team behind a vibe-coding app Ivan Mehta
If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out. Sarah Perez
Reddit is using LLMs to solve a problem LLMs largely created Amanda Silberling
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
-- --
PLEASE LIKE IF YOU FOUND THIS HELPFUL TO SUPPORT OUR FORUM.
