OpenAI is close to releasing a web browser, which would directly challenge the long-reigning search leader Google Chrome, according to a report from Reuters.
The new AI-fuelled browser is set to launch in the coming weeks.
The move would give the parent company of groundbreaking AI tool ChatGPT access to more data to train its models.
It would also give OpenAI more advertising opportunities, putting pressure on Google’s ad stream, which makes up three-quarters of the company’s revenue.
The reported news comes only a day after rival startup Perplexity AI also announced it would be launching its own browser called Comet. The firm’s CEO Aravind Srinivas says the offering will “transforms entire browsing sessions into single, seamless interactions.”
AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Perplexity, make money primarily from subscription services. However, many have started to explore showing ads, or links to brands, within chat responses.
Google’s Gemini chatbot embeds ads within conversations, offering users products or links based on their queries.
Microsoft’s CoPilot also introduced “Showroom Ads”, which provides a split-screen for users to interact with brand content next to their current chat.
The Impact of AI on Search
OpenAI’s browser will keep user interactions within a single interface, instead of having users click to websites, according to two sources from the Reuters report.
The browser will also be linked to OpenAI’s agent offering, Operator, which could carry out search tasks on behalf of the user.
Google has historically had a monopoly on search – having two-thirds of the world’s browser market. Since the Gen AI boom, the sustainability of search advertising has been brought into question.
AI chatbot users tend to stay within the interface of AI tools, instead of navigating to websites as they would have traditionally done, meaning they won’t see ads.
In response to Gen AI chatbots, Google rolled out AI Overviews in May 2024 – which summarises a user’s query at the top of a search page – to compete with chatbots.
These shifts have had a major impact on the ad business model online, particularly for major news outlets, as article content would often be summarised in an AI chatbot response without users going to websites or without publishers being paid.
Security giant Cloudflare made headlines last week after announcing a tool that would give websites automatic protection against content being scraped to train AI and appear in search responses.
