Like Perplexity before it, OpenAI has launched its own AI-powered web browser. ChatGPT Atlas promises to bring “instant answers, smarter suggestions, and help with tasks—all with privacy settings you can control”. But make no mistake, the real reason OpenAI, Perplexity and others are bringing new browsers to the market is not to help you. It’s to help them.
As a wise person once said, if the product is free, then you’re actual product. That saying originated in the 1970s when TV stations sold audience numbers and demographic data to advertisers. Today, AI models consume the data we see, hear, buy, and interact with online.
AI browsers want your data
Between Perplexity Comet, Google AI Mode, and the new ChatGPT Atlas, a new browser war is on. The goal is not dominance of the desktop as we saw over 20 years ago. The fight is for our data.
We live in a world where privacy is under constant threat. Data breaches and cyber attacks have all but destroyed the notion of private data. AI browsers are trojan horses. They harvest data behind a veil of usefulness.
ChatGPT Atlas lets you open a ChatGPT window adjacent to whatever you’re currently browsing and can conduct an analysis of that data. And it can, through its agent mode, execute a series of steps on your behalf if you have a paid account with OpenAI.
It sounds great doesn’t it? It seems very useful. And that’s the hook. By giving you something useful for free, the app harvests information about what you read and what interests you.
There are ways to use AI without compromising privacy
There are ways to use AI that don’t compromise privacy. Tools like Ollama let you use generative AI directly on your Mac without sending any data to an online service. And Apple Intelligence, while it lags in capability, does as much of its processing on your iPhone, iPad or Mac as possible. It gives you a choice as to whether it sends anything to an online service and anonymises data so it can’t be connected back to you.
We all need to be cognisant of the value our data holds. Everything from store loyalty programs to our browsing history has value to the companies that create AI tools. It’s why companies in the AI business are lobbying governments to water down copyright laws. It’s why some companies have been found to have used pirated and stolen data to train their models.
While I am not specifically accusing OpenAI or others of wrongdoing, we should all consider whether these companies are acting ethically and whether they really are trying to help us.
These new AI powered browsers are not really free. You’re paying for them with your data.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.