AI Sparks a New Browser War: Chrome vs. Upstarts

The browser wars of the late 90s are back, this time fueled by artificial intelligence. Major players and newcomers are vying for dominance by integrating AI into web navigation. This shift represents a significant change in how users interact with the web, as browsers evolve from simple navigation tools to intelligent assistants capable of performing tasks and answering questions.

A Shift in Browsing

For nearly two decades, the browsing experience remained largely unchanged. However, tech companies are now betting that users want browsers that can do more than just display web pages. These enhanced browsers aim to answer questions, perform tasks like booking travel, and provide a more interactive experience.

According to George Chalhoub, this shift is the biggest in years. The traditional model of web navigation is moving towards delegation, where browsers act as agents on behalf of users.

Agentic AI Browsers Emerge

Companies like Perplexity and Opera have launched agentic AI browsers that can perform tasks on behalf of users. Perplexity’s Comet combines a browser with an AI agent that reads pages, summarizes information, and performs actions such as booking appointments. Opera’s Neon introduces features like "Do" and "Cards" for custom workflows.

These AI-powered browsers represent a new approach to web interaction, where the browser becomes a proactive assistant rather than a passive tool.

Competition Heats Up

Krystian Kolondra notes that the browser wars are starting again. Today’s browsers are becoming the operating systems for applications, integrating AI to provide seamless experiences. Himanshu Tyagi explains that the notion of search has changed, focusing on giving answers and completing tasks rather than just providing links.

A Different Battlefield

If the third round of browser wars is underway, the competition differs from previous ones. This time, it's about seamless AI experiences, privacy, and changing user habits. While giants like Google dominate, newcomers are testing the limits of what a browser can achieve.

Google's Dominance and Challenges

The second browser war ended with Google Chrome’s triumph, thanks to its speed and integration with Google services. Most browsers today use Chromium, a Google-maintained project. However, Google’s search market share has been slipping due to the rise of AI search engines and chatbots.

Building from Scratch

Almost every "AI browser," including Perplexity’s Comet, is built on Chromium. Building a browser from scratch is complex and costly, leading even Microsoft to rebuild its Edge browser on Chromium after abandoning its own engine.

The Power of the Browser

Perplexity made an unsolicited offer for Google Chrome earlier this year, highlighting the browser's importance as a powerful canvas for creating value for users. These companies aren’t just after web navigation; they seek control of users’ digital lives, with AI agents accessing emails, calendars, messages, and documents.

The Universal Interface

Tyagi describes the myth of the "everything app." AI is magical when unified in a single interface. OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as this interface by integrating apps, allowing users to search, shop, plan travel, and manage files within the chatbot.

Changing User Habits

Chalhoub cautions that changing user habits takes time. The browser is a trusted tool, but small conveniences drive shifts. If an AI browser saves time by booking travel or summarizing articles, adoption will be faster.

AI-Enabled Browsers as Hybrids

AI-enabled browsers, like Comet or Gemini, are hybrids between chatbots and traditional browsing. They allow both humans and AI to access the web, operating within the existing web structure without needing new protocols for interacting with third-party content.

Privacy Concerns

Agentic AI browsers access more user data, raising privacy concerns. These tools see more of what users do online, and Chalhoub warns that AI-powered browsers infer intentions, habits, and mood. Every prompt becomes a data point.

Data Handling and Risks

It's unclear how confidential conversations with AI chatbots are. Letting AI agents crawl sensitive data risks exposing personal information. Kolondra says Opera’s Neon only processes data when users ask, with all requests end-to-end encrypted and no data used to train their models.