The new generation of AI browsers, from OpenAI’s Atlas to Google’s Gemini, aren’t about search, they’re about sense-making, writes Paul Armstrong

Big Tech doesn’t want to make better browsers, it wants to own reality. The new generation of AI browsers, from OpenAI’s Atlas to Google’s Gemini, and Apple’s incoming “intelligent Safari”, are not gateways to the web but replacements. The open internet, with its chaos, plurality and creative disorder, is being replaced by a version mediated, summarised and monetised by machine intelligence.

The first browser wars were about speed and simplicity, the next one is about control. Every click, search and purchase is being absorbed into a closed ecosystem where algorithms decide what people see and how it is framed. Whoever owns that mediation layer owns the flow of information and the attention economy that depends on it. The goal this time is not faster browsing or better design, it’s total dependency.

The illusion of progress

The marketing is slick. OpenAI talks about anticipation, Google talks about productivity, and Apple talks about privacy. The common denominator remains control. AI browsers are being sold as tools of empowerment but in reality, they are mechanisms of consolidation. Search once encouraged and rewarded discovery. The new paradigm removes choice altogether. Atlas offers an answer before you even ask a question. Gemini compresses the entire web into a confident-sounding summary. Apple’s “intelligent” approach filters results through its own trust architecture. Alexa asks if you want to put something on your shopping list. Each promises clarity while narrowing the frame of reference. In reality, all fail regularly and are learning as they continue.

Companies that spent decades........

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