OpenAI has upgraded its ChatGPT extension for Google Chrome so the chatbot can use the browser tabs a user already has open, The Verge reports.
The upgrade comes after OpenAI shut down its Atlas browser. Unite.AI says OpenAI announced the extension update on 15 October, and that the extension’s Chrome Web Store listing shows 7 million users.
With the extension installed, users tag Chrome in ChatGPT’s web or desktop app so it can view their tabs. OpenAI’s demo video shows a user asking ChatGPT to compare three open tabs of sofas they are considering.
What ChatGPT Can Do With Your Tabs
OpenAI has listed several sample queries for the upgraded extension.
ChatGPT can use the details in an event brief to fill out a registration form, and stop before submitting it. It can also add vendors from open tabs to a comparison sheet, with pricing, key features and source links.
Another prompt asks ChatGPT to compare contractors’ services across open tabs, then draft an email to the one that best fits a home renovation.
A fourth has it filling out a form ahead of a dentist appointment, and adding the appointment to work and personal calendars.
Sidebar and Tab Control
OpenAI has also updated ChatGPT in the sidebar. Users can access ChatGPT and their entire conversation history in Chat or Work, without leaving the page they are viewing.
In Work, ChatGPT can control Chrome tabs to send messages, fill out forms or download files. It can also organise and group open tabs. The Verge compares this to Google’s Gemini-powered auto browse feature.
Work is the agent OpenAI launched in July as a challenger to Anthropic’s Claude Cowork, as EM360Tech reported at the time.
Permissions and the End of Atlas
Tokenpost reports that ChatGPT asks before interacting with each new website by default. Users can allow access once, for a particular site or for all sites, or decline. Allowing all sites stops further prompts. Browser-history access needs a separate request and cannot be set to always allow.
Chrome’s install-time prompts for the extension can include reading and changing data on all websites, browsing history, bookmarks, downloads and tab groups. Atlas was retired on 9 August.
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Wider Context
OpenAI is not the first AI company to let a model operate in browser and across software on a the users behalf.
Anthropic released a computer use API in beta in October 2024, letting developers build Claude into tools that look at a screen, move a cursor, click and type.
At the time, Anthropic called the feature experimental and flagged prompt injection as a potential major concern.
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