OpenAI is shutting down ChatGPT Atlas, its AI-powered web browser capable of carrying out tasks on a user's behalf, less than a year after its launch. Announced in October, the browser will be "sunsetted" with deprecation targeted for 9 August, a decision confirmed as part of OpenAI's broader "ChatGPT Work" announcements. The move matters because it signals a shift in the company's strategy away from experimental "side quests" and towards productivity features, as it seeks to keep pace with rival Anthropic.

Atlas is not the only recent casualty: OpenAI has also closed its Sora video generation app and paused plans for a ChatGPT "adult mode". The company says lessons from Atlas users are being carried into new products, including an updated browser within the desktop ChatGPT app and a cloud browser for work mode. OpenAI's James Sun credited early Atlas users with teaching the firm how agents can improve browsing and working on the open web.