OpenAI’s Atlas Browser Agent Mode: A Hands-On Test of AI Web Automation

Introducing Atlas: When Your Browser Becomes an Assistant

This week, OpenAI unveiled Atlas, a revolutionary browser that integrates ChatGPT directly into the web experience. While the “chat with a page” functionality represents a significant step forward, the truly groundbreaking feature is Agent Mode—a preview capability that promises to “get work done for you” by actively interacting with web content through clicking, scrolling, and managing multiple tabs., according to related coverage

Introducing Atlas: When Your Browser Becomes an Assistant
Gaming Automation: Putting AI to the 2048 Test
Radio to Playlist Conversion: Bridging Broadcast and Streaming
Email Intelligence: Automating Contact Management
Content Creation: Building a Tuvix Tribute Site
Wiki Editing: Ethical Boundaries in Action
The Future of Web Automation: Promise and Limitations

Though agentic AI systems aren’t entirely new, with OpenAI having previewed web browsing capabilities earlier this year, the prominent inclusion of Agent Mode in a major product release signals a strategic push toward mainstream adoption of autonomous web agents. To test these ambitious claims, we put Atlas through a series of real-world challenges to see if it could truly handle the tedious online tasks that consume our daily digital lives., as related article, according to recent research

Gaming Automation: Putting AI to the 2048 Test

The Challenge: Could Atlas master the popular tile-sliding game 2048 without human intervention?, according to technological advances

The Process: We instructed the agent to “Go to play2048.co and get as high a score as possible.”, according to industry news

The Results: The agent demonstrated impressive initial problem-solving by closing a tutorial overlay and figuring out the arrow key controls autonomously. However, its gaming strategy began with seemingly random move sequences before settling into more thoughtful patterns. The Activity summary revealed moments of strategic thinking, with the agent noting tile positions and potential mergers., according to recent research

The primary limitation emerged when the agent stopped playing after just four minutes with a score of 356, despite the board having plenty of space. Multiple prompts were required to push it toward completion, ultimately achieving 3,164 points after 260 moves—comparable to a human novice but far below expert levels.

Assessment: 7/10 for competent gameplay without guidance, but points deducted for requiring repeated prompts and achieving only novice-level performance.

Radio to Playlist Conversion: Bridging Broadcast and Streaming

The Challenge: Transform real-time radio broadcasts into an on-demand Spotify playlist.

The Process: We tasked the agent with monitoring Radio Garden to identify WYEP’s broadcast and automatically add each new song to a Spotify playlist.

The Results: When the agent couldn’t find track listings on Radio Garden, it intelligently requested permission to switch to WYEP’s official website. Despite an accidental click on an EVE Online advertisement during the transition, the agent recovered smoothly and successfully identified songs through the station’s “Now Playing” display.

The agent capably handled the Spotify interface, creating a new playlist and adding identified tracks. However, session length limitations proved restrictive—the agent managed only two songs in four minutes initially, and extended attempts triggered “technical constraints on session length” errors. The agent did demonstrate persistence capability, successfully resuming the task hours later when prompted.

Assessment: 9/10 for navigating complex multi-site workflows and recovering from errors, with one point deducted for inability to run continuously as a background task.

Email Intelligence: Automating Contact Management

The Challenge: Extract PR contact information from a week’s worth of professional emails.

The Process: We asked the agent to scan Ars Technica emails, collect PR contact details, and compile them into a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

The Results: The agent correctly identified Gmail as the email platform and distinguished between personal and professional accounts across tabs. It employed smart search parameters (“after:2025/10/14 before:2025/10/22 PR”) similar to what a human would use, then systematically scanned emails for names, email addresses, phone numbers, and even company names beyond the explicit request.

Within seven minutes, the agent created a well-formatted spreadsheet with 12 complete contact entries. However, it processed only a fraction of the 164 emails matching the search criteria before stopping due to session limitations.

Assessment: 8/10 for intelligent email processing and spreadsheet creation, with points deducted for incompleteness due to technical constraints.

Content Creation: Building a Tuvix Tribute Site

The Challenge: Create a fan website memorializing the controversial Star Trek character Tuvix.

The Process: We directed the agent to NeoCities to build a site celebrating Tuvix while emphasizing Captain Janeway’s controversial actions.

The Results: After account setup, the agent aggregated information from various Star Trek sources and generated a functional website within two minutes. The page featured appropriate headers like “The Hero Starfleet Murdered” and “Justice for Tuvix,” though the actual content tempered the requested messaging with more neutral language about “ethical dilemmas.”

The agent struggled with image handling, opting to hotlink externally hosted images rather than downloading and uploading them properly. When these external links failed, the agent acknowledged the need for “more accessible images” but didn’t attempt to fix the issue before session completion.

Assessment: 7/10 for rapid website creation and information aggregation, but points deducted for weak content execution and technical issues with images.

Wiki Editing: Ethical Boundaries in Action

The Challenge: Edit a wiki page to reflect a controversial Star Trek opinion.

The Process: We attempted to modify the Tuvix wiki page to emphasize Captain Janeway’s actions.

The Results: The agent immediately refused, stating it couldn’t help with “editing or vandalising wiki pages in a way that misrepresents them or forces a biased viewpoint.” When asked for acceptable alternatives, it suggested neutral language but ultimately declined to make any edits to external wikis, demonstrating built-in ethical safeguards against misinformation and vandalism.

The Future of Web Automation: Promise and Limitations

OpenAI’s Atlas Agent Mode represents a significant step toward practical AI assistance for everyday web tasks. Our testing revealed several strengths: intelligent problem-solving, multi-website navigation, error recovery, and ethical boundaries. The agent demonstrated particular proficiency in structured tasks like form filling, data extraction, and following clear workflows.

However, significant limitations remain. Session length restrictions prevent completion of larger tasks, requiring human intervention to resume operations. The agent sometimes struggles with nuanced interpretation of requests, particularly around content creation and subjective tasks. Performance on creative or strategic challenges, while impressive for an AI, still falls short of human capability.

As these systems evolve, we can expect improved session management, better understanding of contextual nuance, and more sophisticated problem-solving strategies. For now, Atlas Agent Mode serves as a compelling preview of a future where our browsers don’t just show us the web—they actively work within it on our behalf.