Mint Explainer | OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas: Can it take on Google’s search empire?

Mint explains why it matters, how it could reshape the internet, and what users in India are likely to see.

Why is ChatGPT Atlas a big move from OpenAI?

In October last year, OpenAI introduced a search engine version of its generative AI platform, ChatGPT. While ChatGPT functioned as a conversational assistant, the ‘search’ version aimed to enhance information discovery and trust-based ranking, reducing platform-driven bias. Exactly one year later, ChatGPT Atlas doubles down on what experts say generative AI is most likely to replace over time: traditional search engines.

Search is Google’s largest revenue driver. At the time of writing, the company, the world’s fourth-largest by valuation at $3.07 trillion, reported that its search engine contributed 56% of Alphabet’s $96.4 billion quarterly operating revenue, including Chrome’s undisclosed contribution.

Public data trackers predict that by 2034, AI browsers, excluding search revenue, could account for 60% of the $127 billion browser industry valuation. For OpenAI, capturing even a slice of this market is crucial, especially as the company is burning cash rapidly.

Generative AI remains capital-intensive, making profitability essential, and ChatGPT Atlas is a step towards that goal.

Is a web browser enough to push OpenAI forward?

Not entirely. Over the past year, OpenAI has launched a suite of products: the collaborative coding assistant Canvas, the dedicated AI search engine, video generator Sora, the $500-billion Stargate data centre project, project management platform Codex, startup incubation programme Grove, content curation platform Pulse, and now ChatGPT Atlas.

Experts note that OpenAI’s strategy mirrors Google’s approach over the past two decades—spanning workflow management, consumer applications, and data centres—to capture market share, particularly through its search offerings.

“In the long run, search is the most directly monetizable product in AI today, since relying on subscriptions may not be enough especially for emerging geographies like India," said Jayanth Kolla, technology consultant and partner at Convergence Catalyst. “OpenAI is already plugging in commerce into its generative platform. It should only be a matter of time before the company can monetize its search engine and web browsers too—in a similar way as what Google has achieved before with Chrome and its own search engine."

Why is India important?

India’s internet population, over 800 million, is second only to China’s 1.1 billion, while the US lags at around 330 million users, according to Statista from August. This makes India a key market for Big Tech, particularly given China’s restrictive data policies. In July, OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman said India is on track to become the company’s largest global market.

For Google, India is already significant: as of April, it ranked second in search users, accounting for 8% of all Google searches. On YouTube, India is the largest market, with 500 million of 2.7 billion active users worldwide.

Experts, including Jayanth Kolla, believe India will be central to OpenAI’s push to challenge Google’s dominance in search and browsing. With one of the fastest-growing digital populations in the world, the sheer volume of users gives OpenAI a critical foothold in its competition with Google Chrome and search.

Isn’t language a barrier?

Yes. While most current internet users are English-speaking, the next wave is expected to be vernacular-first.

This shift has prompted tech companies to give Indic languages increasing importance. Google, for example, announced a $15-billion plan on 14 October to set up AI data centres in India.

At its Google For India event in December 2022, the company also unveiled Project Vaani, aimed at building large language models in local languages in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

OpenAI has also targeted this segment. On 7 August, it launched GPT-5, with native support for 12 Indian languages, including Assamese, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

With both its search engine and the new web browser underpinned by GPT-5, OpenAI is poised to leverage Indic language support to reach more users worldwide.

Will taking on Google be a key part of OpenAI’s play?

Experts say yes. Kashyap Kompella, a technology consultant and analyst, noted that replicating Google’s strategy could give OpenAI access to large markets, just as Google’s early innovations prompted competitors to respond with purpose in AI products and services.

Google, meanwhile, isn’t standing still. In an interview with Mint, Elizabeth Reid, vice-president and head of Google Search, said the company’s core product will inevitably evolve as AI reshapes search interfaces and operations. Earlier this year, Google limited page visibility to AI models, making it harder for fabellewebsites to be discovered by AI search engines. Searches increasingly feature AI mode overlays, a capability Google has been ramping up over the past five months.

On 17 September, Google announced the integration of its AI platform Gemini into Chrome—mirroring shifts similar to those ChatGPT Atlas may bring. Mozilla Firefox has also added support for third-party AI plugins that function as AI assistants and agents. Rival AI startup Perplexity already offers Comet, an agentic AI browser, signalling that the AI browser market is just beginning to heat up.

Ultimately, the next battle for internet supremacy will hinge on which company earns users’ trust and perfects the interface for AI search and browsing. Google’s scale gives it a clear lead, but OpenAI could pose the most serious challenge to Google’s dominance in decades.