AI News Monitor

Tech giant OpenAI has unleashed its new AI tool, Operator. And it’s about to change the way we use the web.

OpenAI has launched a new AI tool called Operator that can connect directly to web browsers and independently perform tasks on behalf of users.

The new tool is to serve as an assistant that can go to the web and do things for its owner. These include filling out online forms, ordering groceries, downloading lectures, and creating memes.

“Operator is one of our first agents, which are AIs capable of doing work for you independently,” says OpenAI. “You give it a task and it will execute it.”

The tool is the tech giant’s latest effort to improve its chatbot amidst intensifying competition.

OpenAI is not the first company to delve into what is now called ‘Agentic AI’. Indeed, back in October, Anthropic launched its Claude 3.5 Sonnet with a “computer use” capability. This meant that it could look at a screen, move a cursor, click buttons, and type text, just like a human being.

In December, Google launched Project Mariner, a web-browsing agent that can go online and pick out a recipe for Christmas cookies.

And earlier on the same day OpenAI made its announcement, its rival Perplexity launched Perplexity Assistant on Android devices. Available on Play Store, the assistant can book dinner reservations and hail rides for users.

Perplexity is also looking to expand beyond Android devices. According to a spokesperson, they will be making it available on iOS as soon as Apple gives them the right permissions. But OpenAI is leveraging two key advantages to get ahead: the popularity of its ChatGPT, and operating within an environment that users already understand: the web browser.

Users can ask Operator to perform tasks online and it will begin to do them using its own web browser. Image credit: OpenAI

Users can see Operator browsing the web and clicking through web pages. If it gets stuck, runs into CAPTCHA, or needs to input information like credit card details, it can refer back to the user.

Operator is only a preview for now, though, and it is available only to ChatGPT Pro users in the US. As it matures, OpenAI may consider extending it to lower subscription tiers and the free version.

Time will tell, but the company’s latest reveal shows that it is determined to be at the forefront of a revolution in the way we use the Internet.

In October 2024, it released its SearchGPT, which allows web users to download ChatGPT as a Chrome extension and use it with all the benefits of a search engine. The feature was made available to free users in December 2024. If it sticks, it has the potential to replace Google as a default search engine. It can also change the way we go about Internet search.

OpenAI’s announcement of Operator is only the latest evidence of its fight to push the limits of artificial intelligence and revolutionize Internet use. But its big tech rivals are hardly idle. No matter which way the pendulum swings, there is promise of a greater future collaboration between humans and AI. Web users will be watching for the next update.