In 2025, it seems that artificial intelligence has crept into nearly every corner of technology. Phones are AI-fied, documents write themselves, and even emails draft polite replies without being asked.

Now, the humble web browser — the quiet gateway to everything online — is being washed in AI-elixir.

For decades, browsers were simple tools. You opened a tab, searched, clicked, and read. The differences between Chrome, Safari and Firefox were measured in speed or privacy, not in how they thought. 

But the emergence of AI browsers like OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity's Comet, and The Browser Company's Dia is trying to reimagine that experience.

At its heart, an AI browser blends the functions of a search engine, an assistant and a workspace. Instead of showing a page of blue links, it can understand a question, generate an answer, and even carry out follow-up actions — like summarising a long article, drafting an email, or booking a flight.

Traditional browsers are windows to the web. AI browsers want to become co-pilots inside that window. They embed AI models directly into the browsing experience, so users can chat with pages, ask for explanations, or have the browser act on their behalf.

Nearly all of them share a few traits: a sidebar assistant for natural language queries, a built-in summariser, and a feature known as "agent mode," which allows the AI to perform small tasks. 

Many of these browsers are still based on Chromium, Google's open-source foundation, but what they layer on top marks a distinct shift from passive searching to active assistance.

Perplexity's Comet was one of the first to arrive. Built atop Chromium, it transforms the browsing routine into a guided process. When you open a new tab, Perplexity's own AI search engine takes the lead, offering concise summaries and cited sources. The experience feels like talking to a research assistant rather than typing into a search bar.

The standout feature is its AI sidebar. You can ask questions about the page you are viewing — "What does this article mean by agentic AI?" — and it will respond instantly, drawing from the content on screen. It can also summarise emails, scan through open tabs, or even perform actions such as adding a calendar reminder.

Testers have found Comet most effective for everyday productivity: parsing long documents, comparing products, or preparing meeting notes. 

However, it has some limitations as well. Like all the other AI tools out there, it can misread context or grant permissions too freely, raising privacy concerns. 

Security researchers recently showed how malicious actors could exploit Comet's agentic capabilities to access personal data. 

Perplexity has promised tighter safeguards, but it underscores how quickly innovation outpaces caution in this new field.

If Comet rethinks how we search, Dia reimagines how we browse. Developed by The Browser Company, the same team behind the minimalist Arc browser, Dia has been called an "AI-native" browser. Earlier this year, Atlassian acquired the company for more than six hundred million dollars.

Dia aims to make AI inseparable from the browsing experience. The assistant does not simply answer questions, it remembers what you read, anticipates what you might need next, and can carry information across tabs.

Traditional browsers are windows to the web. AI browsers want to become co-pilots inside that window. They embed AI models directly into the browsing experience, so users can chat with pages, ask for explanations, or have the browser act on their behalf.

Suppose you have several Amazon pages open; Dia could summarise the differences between products or even complete the purchase through its "self-driving" feature.

Unlike traditional browsers that merely add AI extensions, Dia's design places intelligence at its core. Its interface is stripped back to a text box. 

Type a thought or instruction, and the browser decides whether to search, summarise, or act. It remembers your past sessions, your open projects, even your tone of writing.

Last week, OpenAI entered the field with ChatGPT Atlas, its long-rumoured AI-powered browser. Built on Chromium and currently available for macOS, Atlas combines ChatGPT's conversational power with a sleek interface that feels both familiar and futuristic.

When you type a query in the search bar, Atlas responds with an AI-generated answer, complete with sections for search, images, videos, and news. It keeps ChatGPT's voice close at hand: a sidebar labelled "Ask ChatGPT" lets you question any webpage directly.

For paying users, the browser's "agent mode" goes further. It allows ChatGPT to take actions like booking reservations, editing documents, or organising information across tabs. The browser even remembers previous interactions, creating a sense of continuity. OpenAI calls this "memory," and it aims to make Atlas feel personal over time.

In practice, Atlas feels like a midpoint between Comet's summarising assistant and Dia's predictive intelligence. It still relies on user input but gives the AI more autonomy. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, described it as "a great browser all-around — smooth, quick, and helpful." Yet questions remain: how much data will Atlas collect, and how far will users let AI browse on their behalf?

Beyond these three, the race is heating up. Opera's Neon promises AI tasks even while offline. Microsoft is testing "Copilot Mode" for Edge, which can fill out forms or make bookings. Google plans to integrate its Gemini assistant deeper into Chrome. Even smaller players like Brave, Firefox, and DuckDuckGo are experimenting with AI sidebars or chat assistants.

But the difference between adding AI and being AI-native is vast. Most browsers still treat AI as an accessory. Comet, Dia, and Atlas rebuild around it. They do not just host the web—they interpret it.

The potential is clear. AI browsers can save time, handle clutter, and make online life more fluid. Yet they also pose new challenges. Security researchers warn that "agentic" browsers — those capable of acting independently — could open fresh doors to attackers. As one researcher told IT Brew, these agents "are not security-aware" and can be tricked into granting access to sensitive data.

Developers are responding with partnerships, such as Browserbase's work with 1Password to create safer authentication for AI agents. Still, the line between convenience and vulnerability remains thin, according to experts.

The shift toward AI browsers shows a broader transformation in how we interact with technology. They are shedding their neutral skin and emerging as intelligent agents that study, assist, and independently execute tasks.

Whether this leads to smoother productivity or deeper dependence on AI is yet to be seen. The browser wars are back, but this time, the competition has shifted from performance and design to intelligence.

Browsers / OpenAI / OpenAI Atlas / AI