Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Yesterday, ChatGPT announced its new AI-powered browser, Atlas, and I’ve already installed it on my computer to give it a whirl. There shouldn’t be anything surprising about this, right? Well, it isn’t. What is surprising is the fact that Google announced its Gemini integration in Chrome more than a month ago, and I still don’t have access to it.
The reason is simple: I live in France, not the US. And Google has decided that Chrome’s Gemini integration is a privilege only Americans get to try, thus locking out the rest of the world. Meanwhile, OpenAI has an “everybody welcome” approach, with no georestrictions on its Atlas browser.
Guess which browser people are talking about? Downloading? Integrating into their daily lives? Atlas — of course, it’s Atlas. Because some people do live outside the US, give or take a few billion. And no, this isn’t just a matter of people hopping on the latest and newest; a quick look at Google Trends for the keyword searches around “Gemini in Chrome” (or Gemini Chrome), “Comet browser” (or Perplexity Comet), and “ChatGPT Atlas” (or Atlas browser) reveals that interest in Atlas is stratospherically higher than interest in Chrome’s Gemini integration ever was. Even Perplexity’s Comet browser has had a leg up on Gemini in Chrome for months.
Are you using an AI-powered browser? 228 votes Yes, I just adopted ChatGPT Atlas. 14 % Yes, I'm using Perplexity's Comet Browser. 16 % Yes, I have Gemini in my Chrome browser. 19 % Yes, I'm using another AI-powered browser (tell us in the comments). 3 % No, but I've installed an AI extension in my existing browser. 7 % No. 42 %
Google Trends
I’m not surprised that people are more interested in the browsers they can try and the features they can use, as opposed to the ones they don’t have access to because of a silly imposed geographical limitation. I’m exactly like them. I admit, when I first read about Atlas, the thought of Gemini in Chrome didn’t even cross my mind because it’s not something I’ve ever been able to use.
Google had all the headway of the world, but it stumbled by making Gemini in Chrome a US-only feature.
Sadly, Google seems to be once again losing the AI race to people’s hearts and falling into a trap it should’ve seen coming many moons ago. Today, ChatGPT reportedly has more than 80% of the AI chatbot market share, while Gemini is sitting at a meek 2% or so. (The numbers don’t account for the “hidden” use of Gemini in your Android phone or apps, but they still bleakly point out that people go to ChatGPT way more than Gemini.) The reason isn’t that ChatGPT is 40 times better than Gemini now, although there may have been a time in the super early days where it was, but ChatGPT went viral instantly and was able to ride that wave with a move-fast, break-things approach. Google joined the race late, confused everyone with the Bard name before settling on Gemini, was super cautious with its AI features to avoid ruffling feathers, and paid the price in the long run.
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