AI Ate Search. Now It Wants the Browser.

Why the smartest AI companies are chasing the dullest product in tech

Perplexity launched a browser this week. OpenAI is reportedly working on one too. This might seem surprising if you think AI companies are in the business of building models. You’d expect their roadmap to involve things like better reasoning or more memory, or, I don’t know, robot arms.

Browsers, on the other hand, are widely understood to be the least interesting product in tech. Tabs. Bookmarks. An address bar. Maybe a dark mode toggle if someone got ambitious.

But the explanation isn’t nostalgia for Web circa 2009. It’s power. The browser - long treated as neutral plumbing - has become a lever of control. In a world where intelligence is ambient and models are commoditizing, the interface - not the model- is where power consolidates.

The Curious Case of Chrome

Google Chrome is the dominant browser worldwide, holding roughly 68% of the global market share as of June 2025. With 7 in 10 users depending on Chrome, it’s the default gateway for the majority of internet users.

The important thing to understand about Google Chrome is that it’s not really a product. It’s a delivery mechanism. It sets defaults (search, login, sync), collects behavior (telemetry, cookies, scroll depth), and nudges you toward the rest of the Google stack.

Chrome + Search + Ads is one of the most profitable funnels in tech history. The DOJ noticed. It ruled Google was operating an illegal monopoly in search, and floated the idea of forcing a Chrome divestiture. At which point OpenAI and Perplexity reportedly raised their hands and said: “If you’re selling…” Google, wisely, declined. So now they’re building instead.

The Front Door to the Web

Whether they buy or build, the objective is clear: control the browser.

For all its age and inertia, the browser remains the gateway to the internet and whoever controls that gateway controls:

(1) User Intent and Behavior. The browser sees everything: what you search, what you click, how long you stay, what you buy. This behavioral data is gold. Google uses Chrome + Search to build precise user profiles for ads. OpenAI wants a version of that for intent prediction and agent memory.

(2) Distribution Power. Browsers set defaults - search engine, homepage, ad blocker, etc. Chrome funnels billions of queries to Google Search - not because users choose it, but because they don’t change it. In tech, distribution beats product every time. To control the future of search, or anything downstream of it, OpenAI needs to stop renting space in Chrome. They need the land itself.
A new browser with ChatGPT baked in could steer users away from traditional search entirely. That’s existential for Google.

(3) Product Ecosystem Integration. The browser is a surface to bundle services - bookmarks, autofill, shopping, email, cloud storage, AI assistants. Chrome is glued into Gmail, Drive, and Android. If OpenAI builds its own stack- ChatGPT, memory, file browsing, actions - it needs a native home. A browser is that home.

(4) Data & Privacy Control. Control of the browser means control over data collection policies. OpenAI can choose what telemetry to collect, how to frame privacy, and how much user memory to store or personalize across sessions. This becomes especially powerful in agentic workflows.

(5) The Future of the Web. As the web shifts from pages to answers, from clicks to commands, the browser becomes an AI interface, not a passive viewer. If ChatGPT is the co-pilot, the browser becomes the cockpit.

From Search to Session: The Rise of Persistent Context

The browser hasn’t changed much in two decades. Despite cosmetic refreshes, it’s still the same core interface: an address bar, some tabs, bookmarks, and extensions. But how we use the web has changed completely.

Traditional browsers are stateless. They forget what you did last session, offer no continuity, and treat every search, click, or task as a fresh start. That made sense when the web was a static collection of documents.

But AI changes the nature of interaction. It needs context - memory that spans time and intent.

A browser built by OpenAI or Perplexity could do more than render pages. It could remember what you searched before, infer what you’re trying to do now, and help complete tasks across sessions. Not just a portal, but a participant.

Think of it as session memory at the OS layer, not just in a single chat window. A shift from link-based browsing to task-based computing. From typing into search bars to talking to the web. From bouncing across tabs to getting things done inside one persistent interface.

This Time, It’s Personal(ized)

The first browser wars were about rendering speed. This one’s about who gets to render your intent.

There will be a new default. The browser will stop being neutral. It will get opinionated. Personalized. Useful.

And Google? Google will fight like hell. Expect deeper integration of Gemini, more aggressive defaults on Android, and a full-court press to protect its margins. Because when you lose the gateway, you lose the kingdom.

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