According to MakeUseOf, ChatGPT Atlas represents OpenAI’s entry into the AI browser wars, positioning itself alongside competitors like Perplexity’s Comet and Dia. The browser integrates ChatGPT throughout the experience, featuring a persistent sidebar and an Agent Mode that can supposedly perform tasks automatically. After a full week of testing as their daily browser, the reviewer found the experience underwhelming and ultimately uninstalled it. Agent Mode proved particularly problematic, taking over three minutes to complete a simple copy-paste task while introducing potential security risks through prompt injection vulnerabilities. The browser essentially feels like Chromium with AI features layered on top, lacking meaningful improvements to core browsing functionality.
The AI Browser Fatigue Is Real
Here’s the thing: we’re seeing the exact same pattern with every new “AI browser” that launches. They all take Chromium, slap a chatbot on top, and call it innovation. But does having an LLM answer questions really make your browsing experience better? I’m not convinced.
What made browsers like Arc special was that they actually rethought how we interact with the web. Vertical tabs, Spaces for separating work and personal browsing – those were meaningful improvements to the core experience. With Atlas and its competitors, it feels like they’re just checking boxes. “AI sidebar? Check. Agent mode? Check.” But the fundamentals remain unchanged, and honestly, they often feel worse than what we already have.
Agent Mode: Great in Theory, Messy in Practice
The promise of Agent Mode sounds amazing – a browser that can actually do things for you. Fill forms, compare products, complete tasks automatically. Who wouldn’t want that? But the reality is painfully different.
MakeUseOf’s experience with the Google Sheets to Docs task perfectly illustrates the problem. Three minutes for something that takes seconds manually? And it didn’t even do what was asked! That’s the core issue – these agents aren’t reliable enough to trust with real work. They get stuck on scroll bars, forget what they’re doing mid-task, and often interpret instructions creatively rather than following them precisely.
And let’s talk about the security implications. When OpenAI themselves warn about risks on the download page, that should give anyone pause. The prompt injection vulnerability is particularly concerning – malicious sites could potentially manipulate the agent into doing things you never intended. Do you really want that kind of uncertainty in your daily browser?
Where Are the Fundamentals?
What frustrates me most about these AI-first browsers is how they ignore the basics. Browsers are tools we use for hours every day. The core experience needs to be rock-solid before you start adding fancy AI features.
Atlas feels like it shipped before it was ready. No proper multi-profile support, minimal customization options, and tab management that’s basically standard Chromium. It’s like they were so focused on being “AI-native” that they forgot people actually need to, you know, browse the web efficiently.
And honestly, most of these AI features would work perfectly well as browser extensions. Do we really need entirely new browsers built around them? The value proposition just isn’t there when the foundation feels incomplete.
So Where Do We Go From Here?
I get it – AI is the hot thing right now. Every company feels like they need to have an AI story. But forcing AI into places where it doesn’t genuinely improve the experience just creates frustration.
The reviewer went back to plain Chrome, and honestly, I can’t blame them. Sometimes, boring and reliable beats flashy and unreliable. What we really need is someone who can combine thoughtful interface improvements with genuinely useful AI integration – not just another chatbot glued to a browser.
Until then, I’ll be sticking with browsers that focus on making the actual browsing experience better, not just adding AI for AI’s sake. The revolution in browsing that these companies keep promising? We’re still waiting.
