Alphabet stock drops after launch of ChatGPT’s Atlas browser

OpenAI dropped some big news on Tuesday, announcing the launch of its new Atlas browser, which is built with ChatGPT artificial intelligence search at its core.

OpenAI is a privately held company, but its biggest rival, Google, which is owned by Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), saw its shares fall by about 2%.

“AI gives us a rare moment to rethink what it means to use the web. Last year, we added search in ChatGPT so you could instantly find timely information from across the internet—and it quickly became one of our most-used features,” OpenAI officials said. “But your browser is where all of your work, tools, and context come together. A browser built with ChatGPT takes us closer to a true super-assistant that understands your world and helps you achieve your goals.”

ChatGPT is the most widely used AI chatbot search engine, with about 60% of market share, according to Seoprofy. Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini and next with about 14% market share each.

ChatGPT is also the fifth most visited website overall with 5.2 billion monthly users. Google is first with 105 billion monthly visitors, with Alphabet’s YouTube second at 47 billion, according to Seoprofy.

OpenAI’s Atlas browser

Google remains the dominant search engine, but it has lost a bit of market share in recent years. At the end of 2024, it dipped below 90% market share in search for the first time in a decade. That’s still a huge monopoly, but players like Microsoft Bing, Yandex, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo have chipped away.

While Google’s market share has ticked back up to 90%, according to Statista, it will be interesting to see if the new Atlas browser takes any of it back.

The Atlas browser is not a URL, it must be downloaded on to a desktop, like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge or Firefox. It launched on October 21 on MacOS only, meaning Mac computers. It is not yet available on Windows, Apple iOS for iPhones and iPads, or for Android devices. Those versions are coming soon.

ChatGPT is built into the Atlas browser, so it can be used like ChatGPT would. It also features browser memory and agentic features with other capabilities that go beyond a ChatGPT search.

Last month, Google began integrating its Gemini chatbot into Google Chrome, and the roll out will continue in the coming months. Google has a huge built-in advantage with the massive reach of the Chrome browser.

Alphabet releases its third quarter earnings on October 29, so investors may want to tune in for details on the Chrome with Gemini rollout and visibility on the potential threat of Atlas. The Atlas news just broke on Tuesday, so analysts had not yet shared their insights on the development.

Generally, Alphabet stock is considered a buy with a median price target of $260 per share and a low P/E ratio of 26.  Oppenheimer just raised Alphabet’s price target to $300 per share on its low valuation and AI potential.