Atlas Gets A C+: Lessons From ChatGPT’s Browser That’s Brilliant, Broken, And Bursting With Potential Fireside Product Management podcast

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Atlas Gets a C+: Lessons from ChatGPT’s Browser That’s Brilliant, Broken, and Bursting with Potential

6d ago 29:25

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I didn’t plan to make a video today. I’d just wrapped a client call, remembered that OpenAI had released Atlas, and decided to record a quick unboxing for my Fireside PM community.

I’d heard mixed things—some people raving about it, others underwhelmed—but I made a deliberate choice not to read any reviews beforehand. I wanted to go in blind, the way an actual user would.

Within 30 minutes, I had my verdict: Atlas earns a C+.

It’s ambitious, it’s fast, and it hints at a radical new way to experience the web. But it also stumbles in ways that remind you just how fragile early AI products can be—especially when ambition outpaces usability.

This post isn’t a teardown or a fan letter. It’s a field report from someone who’s built and shipped dozens of products, from scrappy startups to billion-user platforms. My goal here is simple: unpack what Atlas gets wrong, acknowledge what it gets right, and pull out lessons every PM and product team can use.

The Unboxing Experience

When I first launched Atlas, I got the usual macOS security warning. I’m not docking points for that—this is an MVP, and once it hits the Mac App Store, those prompts will fade into the background.

There was an onboarding window outlining the main features, but I barely glanced at it. I was eager to jump in and see the product in action. That’s not a unique flaw—it’s how most real users behave. We skip the instructions and go straight to testing the limits.

That’s why the best onboarding happens in motion, not before use. There were some suggested prompts which I ignored but I would’ve loved contextual fly-outs or light tooltips appearing as I explored past the first 30 seconds of my experience:

* “Try asking Atlas to summarize this page.”

* “Highlight text to discuss it.”

* “Atlas can compare this to other sources—want to see how?”

Small, progressive cues like these are what turn exploration into mastery.

The initial onboarding screen wasn’t wrong—it was just misplaced. It taught before I cared. And that’s a universal PM lesson: meet users where their curiosity is, not where your product tour is.

When Atlas Stumbled

Atlas’s biggest issue isn’t accuracy or latency—it’s identity.

It doesn’t yet know what it wants to be. On one hand, it acts like a browser with ChatGPT built in. On the other, it markets itself as an intelligent agent that can browse for you. Right now, it does neither convincingly.

When I tried simple commands like “Summarize this page” or “Open the next link and tell me what it says,” the experience broke down. Sometimes it responded correctly; other times, it ignored the context entirely.

The deeper issue isn’t technical—it’s architectural. Atlas hasn’t yet resolved the question of who’s driving. Is the user steering and Atlas assisting, or is Atlas steering and the user supervising?

That uncertainty creates friction. It’s like co-piloting with someone who keeps grabbing the wheel mid-turn.

Then there’s the missing piece that could make Atlas truly special: action loops.

The UI makes it feel like Atlas should be able to take action—click, save, organize—but it rarely does. You can ask it to summarize, but you can’t yet say “add this to my notes” or “book this flight.” Those are the natural next steps in the agentic journey, and until they arrive, Atlas feels like a chat interface masquerading as a browser.

This isn’t a criticism of the vision—it’s a question of sequencing. The team is building for the agentic future before the product earns the right to claim that mantle. Until it can act, Atlas is mostly a neat wrapper around ChatGPT that doesn’t justify replacing Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

Where Atlas Shines

Despite the friction, there were moments where I saw real promise.

When Atlas got it right, it was magical. I’d open a 3,000-word article, ask for a summary, and seconds later have a coherent, tone-aware digest. Having that capability integrated directly into the browsing experience—no copy-paste, no tab-switching—is an elegant idea.

You can tell the team understands restraint. The UI is clean and minimal, the chat panel is thoughtfully integrated, and the speed is impressive. It feels engineered by people who care about quality.

The challenge is that all of this could, in theory, exist as a plugin. The browser leap feels premature. Building a full browser is one of the hardest product decisions a company can make—it’s expensive, high-friction, and carries a huge switching cost for users.

The most generous interpretation is that OpenAI went full browser to enable agentic workflows—where Atlas doesn’t just summarize, but acts on behalf of the user. That would justify the architecture. But until that capability arrives, the browser feels like infrastructure waiting for a reason to exist.

Atlas today is a scaffolding for the future, not a product for the present.

Lessons for Product Managers

Even so, Atlas offers a rich set of takeaways for PMs building ambitious products.

1. Don’t Confuse Vision with MVP

You earn the right to ship big ideas by nailing the small ones. Atlas’s long-term vision is compelling, but the MVP doesn’t yet prove why it needed to exist. Start with one unforgettable use case before scaling breadth.

2. Earn Every Switch Cost

Changing browsers is one of the highest-friction user behaviors in software. Unless your product delivers something 10x better, start as an extension, not a replacement.

3. Design for Real Behavior, Not Ideal Behavior

Most users skip onboarding. Expect it. Plan for it. Guide them in context instead of relying on their patience.

4. Choose a Metaphor and Commit

Atlas tries to be both browser and assistant. Pick one. If you’re an assistant, drive. If you’re a browser, stay out of the way. Users shouldn’t have to guess who’s in control.

5. Autonomy Without Agency Frustrates Users

It’s worse for an AI to understand what you want but refuse to act than to not understand at all. Until Atlas can take meaningful action, it’s not an agent—it’s a spectator.

6. Sequence Ambition Behind Value

The product is building for a world that doesn’t exist yet. Ambition is great, but the order of operations matters. Earn adoption today while building for tomorrow.

Advice for the Atlas Team

If I were advising the Atlas PM and design teams directly, I’d focus on five things:

* Clarify the core identity. Decide if you’re an AI browser with ChatGPT or a ChatGPT agent that uses a browser. Everything else flows from that choice.

* Earn the right to replace Chrome. Give users one undeniably magical use case that justifies the switch—research synthesis, comparison mode, or task execution.

* Fix the metaphor collision. Make it obvious who’s in control: human or AI. Even a “manual vs. autopilot” toggle would add clarity.

* Build action loops. Move from summarization to completion. The browser of the future won’t just explain—it will execute.

* Sequence ambition. Agentic work is the destination, but the current version needs to win users on everyday value first.

None of this is out of reach. The bones are good. What’s missing is coherence.

Closing Reflection

Atlas is a fascinating case study in what happens when world-class technology meets premature positioning. It’s not bad—it’s unfinished.

A C+ isn’t an insult. It’s a reminder that potential and product-market fit are two different things. Atlas is the kind of product that might, in a few releases, feel indispensable. But right now, it’s a prototype wearing the clothes of a platform.

For every PM watching this unfold, the lesson is universal: don’t get seduced by your own roadmap. Ambition must be earned, one user journey at a time.

That’s how trust is built—and in AI, trust is everything.

If you or your team are wrestling with similar challenges—whether it’s clarifying your product vision, sequencing your roadmap, or improving PM leadership—I offer both 1:1 executive and career coaching at tomleungcoaching.com and expert product management consulting and fractional CPO services through my firm, Palo Alto Foundry.

OK. Enough pontificating. Let’s ship greatness.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firesidepm.substack.com

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