SEO Summary: An in-depth editorial exploring China’s rise in AI and GDP share, historical parallels to U.S. industrial dominance, and how cooperation—not rivalry—will define the next century of technological progress.

What Is a Browser? What Is a Bubble? ChatGPT Has an Answer

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OpenAI’s Atlas redefines the web browser as an AI-powered action layer, sparking debate over the future of the open web, advertising, and infrastructure investment. “That Was The Week” explores the shift from navigation to delegation.

Summary:

The latest issue of That Was The Week (#38, 2025) dives into how OpenAI’s Atlas browser transforms the web from a map of links into an intelligent agent-driven experience. Instead of browsing, users now converse with AI that can summarize, navigate, and execute actions directly inside pages. This evolution raises urgent questions about the economics of the web, as publishers see fewer clicks and impressions while assistants capture the user session.

The editorial weighs competing reactions—from Anil Dash’s “anti-web” warning to Matthew Prince’s call for Google AI crawler regulation—and argues that the future lies in AI-inclusive monetization models that credit original sources.

In parallel, the issue examines whether today’s massive AI infrastructure spending signals a bubble or a genuine buildout. Analysts like Paul Kedrosky caution against over-leverage, while evidence from NVIDIA, Google, and Anthropic suggests strong real-world demand and revenue.

Ultimately, the internet is evolving from navigation to delegation, demanding new rules for traffic attribution, data provenance, and ad economics. The question now: Will money—and credit—move with the interface shift?

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AI browser, OpenAI Atlas, ChatGPT browser, web economics, AI infrastructure, Minsky moment, Google ads, Anthropic, NVIDIA, AI regulation, Cloudflare CMA, generative search, AI assistants, open web future.

Financial media loves the word “bubble.” It sells fear and draws clicks. But when it comes to AI, that narrative misses the mark. The surge in capital flowing into models, chips, and cognitive infrastructure isn’t speculative mania—it’s the next Enlightenment: a global reallocation of resources toward intelligence itself. This editorial argues that what critics call a bubble is actually a compounding moment of civilization-scale reinvestment.