Traditional web tools are facing an existential crisis as AI products and tools are gaining increasing attention from the wide range of products people have used to interact with the Internet for years. At the very least, that's what browser companies think is happening.
Last year, the company decided to stop developing the popular web browser ARC. This was not a hit on the scale as ARC was popular among enthusiasts, but presented a learning curve that was too steep to reach mass adoption. The startup has since moved towards developing AI-burning browsers at the heart of the browser. A browser called DIA is now available in beta, but you will need an invitation to try it out.
Browser company CEO Josh Miller has recently acknowledged how people use AI tools for all sorts of tasks, and DIA reflects that. By providing an AI interface to the browser itself, the company wants to slide into user flows and provide an easy way to use AI, reducing the need to visit sites with tools such as ChatGpt, Prperxity, Claude and more.
Image credit: Browser company
In advance, DIA presents a simple interface. The browser is based on Chromium, an open source browser project backed by Google, so it has a familiar look and feel.
The marquee function here is of course AI smart. In addition to allowing you to enter website names and search terms, DIA's URL bar acts as an interface for its built-in AI chatbot. The bot can search the web, summarise the files to upload, and automatically toggle between chat and search functions. Users can also ask questions about all open tabs, and bots can also write drafts based on the contents of those tabs.
To set your preferences, all you have to do is consult with the chatbot and customize your voice tone, writing style and coding settings. Through an opt-in feature called History, you can enable your browser to use a 7-day browsing history as a context to answer queries.
Another feature called skill allows you to build small snippets of code that act as shortcuts for various settings. For example, you could ask your browser to create a layout for reading. It codes something for you – think of a Siri shortcut.
Image credit: Browser company
Now it should be noted that browser chatbots are not a whole new feature. Several browser companies have integrated AI tools into their interfaces. For example, Opera Neon allows users to build mini-applications or complete tasks using AI agents.
The browser company says that all existing ARC members will be able to access DIA immediately, and existing DIA users can send invitations to other users.