ChatGPT can now read your open Chrome tabs and, in Work mode, control them to send messages, fill forms and download files
A few big upgrades for Chrome users today! We’re bringing the power of computer use to anyone who uses Chrome. First up: ChatGPT can now use your tabs in Chrome to make answers more useful and get things done for you. If you’re in Chat, it can look across your open tabs and gather info. If you’re in Work, ChatGPT can control your Chrome tabs to get things, like sending messages, filling out forms, or downloading files. It can even help you organize and group that pile of tabs you have open.
Context
Bringing computer use into the browser most people already use puts an AI agent directly into everyday web tasks, along with new privacy and safety questions.
This is a first hand launch post from OpenAI's ChatGPT account. A follow up post says it is available for all ChatGPT plans.
Deep dive
On October 15, the ChatGPT account posted a few big upgrades for Chrome users, saying OpenAI is bringing the power of computer use to anyone who uses Chrome. It said ChatGPT can now use Chrome tabs to make answers more useful: in Chat it can look across open tabs and gather information, and in Work it can control tabs to do things like send messages, fill out forms or download files, and even organize and group open tabs.
OpenAI's help documentation says the extension works from the ChatGPT desktop app in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi, and can read or act on sites where the user is already signed in, such as LinkedIn, Salesforce or Gmail. Users set it up under Computer Use in the desktop app's settings and then pick the browser with a mention in a Work or Codex chat. Most browsers also get a side chat panel.
The feature lets an AI agent act inside a user's logged in accounts, which raises the stakes for mistakes and for prompt injection from web pages. OpenAI's documentation describes per site controls for which domains the agent can use.
What to expect next
Watch for reports of how reliably ChatGPT completes real tasks in Chrome, and for any security research showing web pages tricking it into unwanted actions.
Also watch how Google responds with Gemini in its own browser, and whether OpenAI expands control features beyond Work mode to more users. Uptake numbers and user feedback over the next few weeks will show whether people trust an agent with their logged in tabs.