OpenAI's long-anticipated web browser, driven by Kiwi Ben Goodger (inset), is expected in a few weeks. It will take on market leader Google Chrome and other web browsers. Image / Ben Goodger, Getty Images
A Kiwi is behind a move that could upend the web browser market. Beam makes a comeback, of sorts. ComCom boss boosts Uber rivals in social media post. Rocket Lab posts pics of Peter Beck with US military brass, booms to another all-time high.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI is now just weeks away from launching its own web browser, according to a Reuters report.
That’s potentially bad news for Google’s Chrome, which holds around two-thirds of the web browser market – which in turn helps fuel the tech giant’s near-monopoly on search, and hundreds of billions of dollars in search ad revenue.
It’s thought OpenAI’s upcoming release will be a web browser with ChatGPT features built in, plus OpenAI’s “Operator” agentic AI (artificial intelligence).
Operator, which is only available for those on a US$200 ($334) per month ChatGPT Pro account, handles “repetitive tasks such as filling out forms, ordering groceries”.
OpenAI has not commented.
But we do know that Kiwi Ben Goodger is at or near the centre of its plans.
Comet is here.
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) July 9, 2025
A web browser built for today’s internet.pic.twitter.com/cFPeghl2YM
After creating several core features for Netscape (kids, ask your parents), he was the lead developer for the Firefox browser in the 2000s, from his new home base of San Francisco.
After moving to Google, where he would become a vice-president, Goodger co-founded the team who created the Chrome web browser that would knock Microsoft’s Internet Explorer off its perch.
A few months ago, Goodger jumped ship to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, where he is listed simply as a “member of technical staff” – a job description so intensely nondescript that it screams secret.
Goodger posted to social media: “I’m thrilled to be working at the frontier of technology, helping to develop products that benefit everyone!”
How exactly? It’s still under wraps. Goodger wouldn’t comment. On X, formerly Twitter, he posted a screengrab from Apple TV series Severance with the caption “The work is mysterious and important”.
Is it a Chrome-killer? We’ll see over the next few weeks.
Two AI browsers have just hit the market. They can “see” what’s on your screen, in various browser tabs, by taking screenshots then interacting with content.
One is from AI start-up Perplexity, which features its own search engine and AI assistant.
With a US$200 per month subscription required, reviews have been thin on the ground.
ZDNet found Comet Assistant is context-aware, able to reference open tabs for research, summarise content inline – without you having to switch browser tabs or to a chatbot app – and answer questions about web pages without copy-pasting.
“This is especially useful for tasks such as comparing products across sites or analysing information on the fly ... [but] Like all LLMs [large language models], Perplexity still frequently gets facts wrong. Always, always double-check its responses,” ZDNet said.
And the New York Times recently reviewed a second newcomer, Dia – from a start-up called the Browser Company.
While AI bots like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude require opening a separate tab or app and pasting in content, Dia’s web browser integrates its chatbot – so you can ask questions about a website’s content without leaving your current browser tab.
Dia can pull tricks like summarising a 20-minute video, so you don’t have to watch it. The New York Times used it to shortcut a clip that compared various products (the trick is not quite as fancy as it sounds; it involves accessing a YouTube transcript).
The new browser performed well. But there’s no unique AI. Instead, Dia works with several LLMs.
Dia is currently free, but Apple-only (a Windows version is coming) and there’s a waitlist.
The firm says it will ultimately charge for a range of versions costing between US$5 and “hundreds of dollars per month”.
Why all the monthly subscription charges from the start-ups (and the top-tier versions of LLMs from OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and other Big Techs)?
Searches via Google Chrome are cheap to run and bring in hundreds of billions of revenue as punters click on search ad links. Google’s highly-profitable search ad business had US$237 billion in revenue last year - although it now faces a delicate dance as more and more of its search engines results are “AI overviews” that are more problematic for revenue extraction.
AI queries are a lot more power-intensive, which makes them much more expensive to run, with self-contained answers. King of the artificial intelligence hill OpenAI lost money on a reported US$10b revenue last year. Someone’s got to pay the bills.
There are other possible twists. Google is facing an antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice. During an initial hearing in May, both OpenAI and Perplexity said they were open to buying Chrome, if that formed part of a settlement or court-mandated outcome.
And Apple, which is already adding AI smarts to its Safari web browser and is unencumbered by the need for search ad revenue, has in turn been reportedly sniffing around Perplexity.
It was an honor to host Gen. Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command, for a recent tour of the production line for our Electron and HASTE launch vehicles. We’re proud to support both national security and commercial missions with responsive launch, innovative… pic.twitter.com/itz1Vixf2z
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) July 9, 2025
Rocket Lab’s Nasdaq-listed shares closed up 10.7% today to a fresh all-time high of US$43.21 - for a market cap of US$19.94 billion ($33.79b).
The Herald recently covered factors behind the surge, including the fall of SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk and the rise of Rocket Lab’s Neutron. Founder Sir Peter Beck owns just over 10% of the company.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi-American firm recently highlighted its close ties to the US military with a July 11 LinkedIn post saying, “It was an honor to host Gen. Stephen Whiting, Commander of US Space Command, for a recent tour of the production line for our Electron and HASTE launch vehicles. We’re proud to support both national security and commercial missions with responsive launch, innovative technologies, and regular and reliable access to space.”
Haste (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) is a modified version of Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket that can carry a payload of about 700kg (about twice a standard Electron) to low Earth orbit.
The location of the visit was not listed. Rocket Lab has been working on Neutron and Haste at multiple locations in the US, including its new facilities in Virginia and its assembly plant in Long Beach, California.
Defence (or “Defense”) has been a huge, defining market for Rocket Lab and breakout 2025 success story Syos Aerospace, whose founder has maintained NZ venture capital investors are too squeamish about dual-use technologies
Some 32,000 retail investors have been happy to be strapped on for the Rocket Lab ride. Sharesies recently said its average buy price was US$12.76.
Beam Mobility e-scooters have been spotted this month.
Is the beleaguered rideshare operator making a comeback?
Last year, Beam was kicked out of Auckland and several other Australasian cities after breaching licence terms. In Auckland, it put hundreds more scooters on the city’s streets than its licence allowed, according to the council.
The council referred Beam’s conduct to the police. The police told the Herald it was a civil matter and sent it back in the council’s court. An Auckland Council spokeswoman told Tech Insider today: “The council was offered a settlement, which we declined.” The amount Beam offered was not disclosed. The cash settlement offer was made in January.
On July 2, Beam said it has reached a preliminary agreement to merge with a second Singapore-owned e-scooter rental operator, Neuron – and it was a Neuron warehouse where Beam e-scooters were recently spotted.
A merger can be a way back on to a city’s streets. After being exiled over glitches and its inadequate response, Lime returned to Auckland after it was merged with Jump (both players had a common major investor, Uber; Lime subsequently won a licence in its own right).
But while Neuron has at times operated in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, it does not currently hold a licence in any New Zealand city. The back door is shut.
Commerce Commission John Small has taken to LinkedIn to recommend people “switch” to Uber rivals Bolt or Didi to “be kind to your driver”, whom he says will get a bigger clip of the ticket.
Bolt recently launched in NZ against Uber and Didi.
In his post, Small says Uber has a higher “tax” (taking a bigger cut of the fare) but also - perhaps ironically - boosts one of the pro-Uber talking points by reiterating a point made earlier by the Herald that the tech giant’s contractor-only arrangement provides new market entrants with a readymade pool of drivers.
And here’s one from me:
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.