Hajra Naz
Anthropic has officially announced the launch of a research preview of its browser-based AI agent, Claude for Chrome, marking another major step in the race to integrate AI directly into web browsers.
The new agent, powered by Claude AI models, is rolling out this week to a limited group of 1,000 subscribers on Anthropic’s Max plan, which costs between $100 and $200 per month. For everyone else, the company has opened a waitlist for Claude’s Chrome extension, signaling a wider release in the near future.
Claude for Chrome: What It Can Do
With the Claude Chrome extension, users can chat with the AI assistant in a sidecar window that stays active alongside their browsing session. The agent can maintain context across websites, answer questions in real time, and—if granted permission—take actions in the browser to complete tasks on the user’s behalf.
This positions Claude as more than just a chatbot—it’s evolving into a true AI browser agent capable of handling workflows, offloading repetitive tasks, and providing context-aware help as you browse.
Read More: OpenAI Launches Powerful New Reasoning AI Models with Bonus Features
AI Browsers: The Next Battleground
The browser is quickly becoming the next big frontier for AI companies.
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Perplexity recently unveiled Comet, its own AI-powered browser that comes with a built-in agent.
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OpenAI is reportedly close to launching its own AI browser, rumored to feature capabilities similar to Comet.
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Google has rolled out Gemini integrations with Chrome, embedding its flagship AI model deeper into its ecosystem.
The timing is especially critical given Google’s looming antitrust case. A federal judge has suggested that Google may even be forced to sell Chrome. Already, Perplexity has submitted an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid for Chrome, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hinted at his company’s interest in buying it as well.
This intensifying competition has sparked what many are calling the “AI browser wars.”
The Safety Risks of AI Agents in Browsers
In its blog post, Anthropic emphasized that while AI agents in browsers unlock powerful new capabilities, they also introduce serious safety challenges.
Last week, Brave’s security team reported that Perplexity Comet’s browser agent was vulnerable to prompt injection attacks, where malicious hidden code in a webpage could manipulate the AI into executing harmful commands. (Perplexity later confirmed the issue has since been patched.)
Anthropic claims it has already implemented several safeguards in Claude for Chrome:
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Default blocking of financial services, adult sites, and pirated content.
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User-controlled permissions for site access.
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Explicit consent before “high-risk actions” such as publishing, purchasing, or sharing personal data.
According to the company, these defenses cut the success rate of prompt injection attacks from 23.6% to 11.2%, though it stresses this preview phase is meant to uncover additional risks.
The Evolution of Agentic AI Models
This isn’t Anthropic’s first experiment with agentic AI systems. In October 2024, the company launched an AI model capable of controlling a user’s PC. While early testing showed it to be slow and unreliable, agent models have since improved dramatically.
Today’s Claude Chrome extension, along with competitors like ChatGPT Agent and Perplexity Comet, shows that AI assistants can reliably handle basic browsing tasks such as research, form-filling, and summarization. However, most still fall short when faced with complex, multi-step problem-solving.
Anthropic is betting that its safety-first approach, paired with Claude’s growing reliability, will give it an edge as the AI-powered browser race accelerates.
FAQs
1. What is Claude for Chrome?
Claude for Chrome is a browser-based AI agent by Anthropic, designed to work as a Chrome extension. It can chat with users, maintain context across websites, and even take actions within the browser.
2. How do I get access to Claude for Chrome?
Currently, it’s available to 1,000 Anthropic Max plan subscribers ($100–$200/month). A waitlist has been opened for other interested users.
3. How is Claude for Chrome different from Perplexity’s Comet or OpenAI’s browser?
While Perplexity and OpenAI are focusing on AI-powered browsers, Claude for Chrome is launching as an extension. It emphasizes safety controls and permission-based actions to reduce risks like prompt injection.
4. What safety features does Claude for Chrome have?
Anthropic blocks access to risky websites by default, reduces prompt-injection vulnerabilities, and requires explicit user consent before executing sensitive tasks.
5. Why is there so much focus on AI browsers now?
Browsers are the gateway to most online activity. By embedding AI directly into Chrome and other browsers, companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are competing to make their AI the default assistant for billions of internet users.
