AI Daily: OpenAI nearing launch of AI-powered web browser

Catch up on the top artificial intelligence news and commentary by Wall Street analysts on publicly traded companies in the space with this daily recap compiled by The Fly:

AI-POWERED WEB BROWSER: Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI is near launching an AI-powered web browser that seeks to challenge Google Chrome (GOOGL), Reuters’ Kenrick Cai, Krystal Hu, and Anna Tong report, citing three people familiar with the matter. The browser is set to release in the coming weeks and intends to use AI to fundamentally alter how users browse the web, and will also give OpenAI more direct access to user data, the authors say. The Fly notes that AI company Perplexity announced on Wednesday the launch of its AI-powered web browser Comet. Apple (AAPL) is another publicly traded company with its own web browser.

APPLE AI STRATEGY: Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives says that in the AI Revolution there is an arms race going on between Big Tech stalwarts Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL) and many others to monetize the biggest tech trend in the last 50 years, while Apple (AAPL) is “at a highway rest stop on a bench watching this 4th Industrial Revolution race go by at 100 miles an hour.” With the biggest and most entrenched consumer installed base in the world with 2.4B iOS devices and 1.5B iPhones, Cupertino does not have to be first out of the gates on AI and can still win the consumer AI Revolution race, Wedbush argues. But that window is narrowing and it’s a worrying dynamic for Apple, the firm adds. Wedbush believes Perplexity is the “no brainer” deal to help launch Apple’s AI strategy. Investors would loudly cheer a Perplexity deal, and it would get Cupertino off this AI treadmill at 2.0 speed, Wedbush says, adding that the time has come for Apple to do a big M&A deal and its Perplexity. The firm has an Outperform rating on Apple with a price target of $270 on the shares.

AI OPPORTUNITY: Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft to Outperform from Perform with a $600 price target. The firm believes investors’ attention on the ramp of Microsoft’s AI revenue stream will only increase as Azure’s growth remains strong, offering not only valuation support but also upside potential as this revenue stream continues scaling fast and investors embrace Microsoft as one of the long-term AI winners in software. Oppenheimer further believes that sustaining robust growth in its AI business is not fully in the stock, nor is it a re-acceleration in Azure’s growth in FY26. Microsoft is also one of only a few vendors in the software industry capable of delivering a Rule of 60 business profile and at unprecedented scale, which the firm thinks lends good support to premium multiples.

CALL CENTERS: Microsoft during an employee presentation last week said artificial intelligence said it over $500M last year in its call centers alone and increased both employee and customer satisfaction, Brody Ford of Bloomberg reports, citing a person familiar with the remarks. Microsoft is also starting to use AI to handle interactions with smaller customers, its Chief Commercial Officer Judson Althoff said, a source told Bloomberg.

HIGH-PROFILE ENGINEERS: Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI has hired four high-profile engineers from Tesla (TSLA), Meta (META), and xAI, including David Lau, former VP of software engineering at Tesla, Wired’s Will Knight and Zoe Schiffer report.

OVERHAULS SECURITY: Microsoft-backed OpenAI has overhauled its security, adding biometric checks in its offices and isolating sensitive info, to protect IP such as model weights from spying, Financial Times’ Tabby Kinder and Cristina Criddle report. The startup has been bolstering its security efforts since last year, but the changes were accelerated after Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek released a rival model in January, according to people familiar with the matter.