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OpenAI’s AI-Native Atlas Debut Spurs Microsoft to Expand Edge Copilot

Agent-led browsing forces a rethink of search economics across tech, advertising, publishers.

Overview

  • Two days after Atlas launched, Microsoft detailed a deeper Copilot in Edge that, with user permission, can analyze open tabs, summarize and compare information, and perform actions such as booking hotels or filling forms.
  • ChatGPT Atlas centers a conversational interface with an Agent Mode that can research products, apply coupons, fill carts, and schedule deliveries directly from web pages.
  • Atlas is live on macOS with planned releases for Windows, Android, and iOS, and it adds a Sidechat panel for on-page summaries, rewrites, translations, and contextual assistance.
  • The rollout intensifies the AI browser race that includes Google’s Gemini in Chrome, Microsoft’s Edge, and Perplexity’s Comet, with industry coverage warning of lower click-through rates and a shift to agent-first, structured content.
  • OpenAI says optional, transparent browser memories give users control over data, while early tests cite slower task execution and occasional hallucinations, and market reports say Alphabet lost over $150 billion in value after the news.