OpenAI unveiled its own browser. Shares of Google's parent company fell

ChatGPT AI developer OpenAI unveiled its first artificial intelligence web browser called ChatGPT Atlas on October 21. It could compete with Google Chrome, Bloomberg notes . Shares of Google's parent company, Alphabet, plummeted 4.8% in trading as soon as OpenAI announced the presentation, but then investors bought back some of the tech giant's securities. The market feared a year ago that OpenAI's own browser would lead to a decline in the number of Google Chrome users and search queries, which bring the company most of its revenue.

OpenAI has revealed an artificial intelligence browser built around ChatGPT. It is already available for macOS, with mobile and Windows versions coming later, the company promises.

The company said Atlas looks and feels like most other browsers, but its key difference is that it's built around the generative ChatGPT chatbot. The browser is designed to provide a more personalized online experience, as well as perform tasks on behalf of the user - such as booking flights or editing documents, the company said. Users will be able to communicate with ChatGPT on any tab: a special button opens a sidebar for interaction with the chatbot, which will, for example, summarize or explain what they read right in this window.

"We believe AI is a rare once-in-a-decade opportunity to reimagine what a browser can be," said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the live broadcast.

Shares of Alpbahet, Google's parent company, fell as much as 4.8% after the presentation was announced, but recovered some of the losses as trading progressed and ended the session down 2%.

The launch of Atlas puts OpenAI in direct competition with players such as Google and Perplexity AI, which are vying for users and market share with their browser-based solutions, CNBC writes. Earlier this month, Perplexity released the Comet browser with AI - it's available for free - and Google built the Gemini model into Chrome in September.

According to the analytical company Statcounter, Chrome had a 72% share of the global market in September. In second place is Apple's Safari, which has 14%. These browsers are pre-installed on Android and iOS smartphones, and it will be extremely difficult to displace them from the market, Barron's believes. Citi analysts cited survey results in the summer that Chrome "remains a key element of Internet activity for most users" in all age categories. But they also noted the growing popularity of "alternative search scenarios" among young people.

Chrome is a key part of Google's ecosystem, serving as a "funnel" to draw users to Google Search and other Google services, so any loss of market share could affect advertising revenue, Barron's warned . The search engine generates more than half of the company's revenue and is its largest business. Alphabet's Google Search segment revenue for the second quarter was $54.2 billion, on total revenue of $96.4 billion.

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