After Perplexity and The Browser Company began amassing traction with AI browsers, more and more companies have started working on their own, with this week featuring not one, but two new entries.
Our other key takeaways include:
Meta slashes 600 employees across its AI unit following a spree of hires
Anthropic inks a multibillion-dollar deal with Google for one million TPUs
OpenAI acquires Sky, an AI-powered interface for Mac, and its developers
Join us at AI Tangle as we untangle this week's happenings in AI!
THE BIG STORY
OpenAI has entered the web browser race with the launch of ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered browser to take on Google and the dominance of Chrome. As one might expect, ChatGPT rests at the heart of the browser, bundled with a web-browsing agent via the paid “agent mode” to help users automate simpler tasks. ChatGPT Atlas also comes with the popular sidecar chatbot panel featured in other AI browsers, such as in Perplexity’s Comet, as well as an optional “browser memories” feature. Some paid features aside, the browser itself will roll out for free worldwide on macOS, with support for Windows, Android, and iOS in the works.
… Two days later, Microsoft re-launched an AI-powered browser of its own.
Although Edge’s Copilot Mode officially launched earlier this year in July, it was not until this week that Microsoft got slightly more ambitious at its Copilot Fall Release event. The re-launched Copilot Mode introduced “Actions” and “Journeys,” two opt-in features that allow Copilot to take smaller actions on behalf of the user and trace connections between their open tabs. Despite not being the largest shift Edge has seen, Microsoft CEO Mustafa Suleyman is pushing for its evolution into an AI-powered browser, with Copilot Mode taking center stage at the event.
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AI LIGHTNING ROUND
💸 Project Mercury - OpenAI has been reportedly copping up ex-investment bankers to work on an in-house AI project to slash entry-level grunt work in finance.
🔉 Meet Mico - Nearly 30 years since Clippy’s debut, Microsoft is trying its hand again at an assistant with Mico, a new character for Copilot’s voice mode.
🤖 A Mass Takeover - A report by The Wall Street Times alleges that Amazon could be looking to avoid up to 600,000 new hires in favor of “advanced automation.”
🌏 Anthropic to Korea - After setting up shop in Tokyo and Bengaluru, Anthropic announced plans to open a third Asia-Pacific office in Seoul in early 2026.
5 QUICK HITS
Despite a rampant hiring spree just two months ago, Meta announced on Wednesday that it is laying off 600 staff from its AI unit, reported first by Axios. The report claims that mainly staff from Meta’s AI infrastructure units, the Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research unit, and other product-related positions will be impacted. The announcement came as a memo from Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, who joined as part of Meta’s recent $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, as the company looks to cut down on excessive operational layers and become more nimble.
In a short post made on Thursday, Anthropic revealed that it had struck a multibillion-dollar partnership with Google for a million of its coveted, high-tech TPUs, along with further expanding its use of Google Cloud technologies. Anthropic noted that the deal is expected to bring well over a gigawatt of capacity online in 2026 for Claude, further cementing its business relationship with Google that began in 2023. On top of previous positive experience, Anthropic also stated that it had chosen Google’s chips for their price, performance, and efficiency, something that has begun paying dividends to Google in its own AI race as well.
OpenAI has acquired Software Applications, Inc., the developers of Sky, an unreleased AI-powered natural language interface for Mac, as announced in a blog post. The embedded system, which has access to your screen, is designed to work alongside a user throughout their day like a general-purpose agentic assistant. Although no numbers or terms were disclosed, the deal was led by OpenAI’s Nick Turley and Fidji Simo, head of ChatGPT and CEO of Applications, respectively. With OpenAI’s recent spree of Mac-first feature and product releases, the acquisition could be seen as OpenAI challenging Apple on its own platform.
General Motors unveiled plans to add a Gemini-powered AI assistant to its cars, trucks, and SUVs starting next year, as revealed during the GM Forward event in New York City. The upgrade will roll out over-the-air via the Play Store for OnStar-equipped vehicles, model year 2015 and later. GM says that the privacy-centric system will offer natural voice interaction, web access for on-the-road queries, as well as vehicle-specific features, such as route planning and cabin controls. The company also announced an overhaul to its electrical architecture and computing platform, along with an autonomous “eyes-off” driving feature.
US-based data analytics firm Palantir has signed a multi-year partnership with Lumen Technologies to integrate Palantir’s Foundry and AIP with Lumen’s edge computing, broadband infrastructure, and more, with Bloomberg claiming the deal to be worth over $200 million. The collaboration aims to accelerate Lumen’s adoption and deployment of AI more quickly and help it with its digital transformation. The two companies had already collaborated previously in September, with Lumen crediting Palantir’s tech as one of the biggest influencers in helping it achieve $350 million in cost reductions in 2025.
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AI EXTRA READ
Google Makes Another Quantum Breakthrough (6-min read)
Even if real-world quantum physics use may still be many years away, scientists at Google’s Quantum AI have made yet another leap of progress, claiming that they’ve developed a quantum-exclusive algorithm that works 13,000x faster than even the best of traditional supercomputers.
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Your AI Sherpa,
Mark R. Hinkle
Publisher, The Artificially Intelligent
Enterprise (TheAIE) Network
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