The company that still hasn’t shown a single ad yet — but will let ChatGPT talk dirty to you eventually — has launched a web browser. Yes, OpenAI dropped Atlas this week, putting ChatGPT front and center as the interface for how you’re “supposed to” use the Internet.
With Atlas, you don’t need to type URLs. You “talk to” your browser. And instead of showing you a list of links, Atlas just tells you what you need to know, bypassing publishers, marketers, and adtech companies entirely. (So far, there don’t appear to be any ads within the platform, though companies can strike deals with OpenAI to feature customized agentic experiences. See Vrbo.com.)
According to CEO Sam Altman, there is a “once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be about.” In other words: more agentic, more AI-assisted — and maybe a little less ad-supported.
Why This Matters:
What happens when a guy — and a company — that doesn’t seem to like ads decides to replace the ad-supported web with something new? Last week, Sam Altman said he could “see one day launching some cool ad product,” but he didn’t exactly sound very excited about it. Then, just days later, he confirmed that ChatGPT will allow erotica for verified users before it ever shows an ad to anyone. That’s how much he doesn’t seem to like ads.
Now, we have a browser that, by design, might eliminate advertising altogether. No search results to monetize. No banners to buy. No clicks to measure. It’s a dream product for the ad-blocking crowd. If the last decade was about publishers and marketers fighting for “more” from Google, the next might be about begging ChatGPT to work with them at all.
Experts React:
Not really an ad but OpenAI is doing some cross-platform promotions for Atlas 🙃:
Our Take:
OpenAI launching a browser could reshape the ad-supported web entirely. Will Atlas allow for data-driven targeting? Will it lean into contextual instead? Who knows. By the way, many are saying to “expect ads,” but paid-for agentic features feel far more likely to us.
Altman doesn’t strike us as the type to simply adopt what’s already out there. Between banning ads, dodging publishers (who will lose a ton of leverage in their legal battles against OpenAI if OpenAI controls a browser), and launching “agent mode” — which literally browses the web for you — his message to the ad industry seems clear: don’t call us, we’ll call you. Maybe.
