The AI browser race is entering a new phase. After spending much of 2025 trying to reinvent web search with built-in chatbots, startups are increasingly shifting their attention toward browser agents that can automate repetitive work instead of simply answering questions. The latest company to embrace that transition is Polar, a startup founded by former Perplexity engineer Kevin Zhang, which has raised $5.7 million in seed funding led by Madrona.
Unlike the first generation of AI browsers that targeted everyday consumers, Polar is designed specifically for knowledge workers. Its premise is straightforward: instead of replacing Google Search, the browser aims to eliminate repetitive tasks that professionals perform across dozens of browser tabs every day.
The next AI browser isn’t trying to replace Chrome
According to TechCrunch, Zhang believes the first wave of AI browsers focused too heavily on replacing default search engines or helping users complete occasional tasks such as booking flights and restaurant reservations. Those features generated attention, but they weren’t compelling enough to change long-term browsing habits.
“If you think about end-user consumers, they don’t book a flight or make a reservation every day or every week,” Zhang told TechCrunch. “There wasn’t a strong pull for mass consumers to go to an AI browser and find value in it. That’s why our AI browser is not focused at all on mass consumers. We’re focused on where we think browser agents are actually valuable, which is knowledge work.”
Polar reflects that philosophy. Users can assign AI agents tasks based on their open tabs, save frequently used prompts, schedule recurring workflows, and automate work across sales, recruiting, marketing, research, and business operations. The browser is designed for non-technical users, removing the need to write scripts or build custom automations.
The product follows a freemium model. Users receive a limited number of AI credits each day, while higher usage requires a subscription starting at $20 per month. Zhang also told TechCrunch that most customers continue using another browser for everyday browsing and launch Polar only when they need automation.
AI browsers are becoming AI coworkers
Polar’s launch highlights how quickly the AI browser market has evolved. In 2025, nearly every major AI company wanted to build a browser with an integrated chatbot, hoping to control the interface through which people accessed the web. That strategy has since changed.
OpenAI’s Atlas has disappeared, The Browser Company’s Dia is increasingly focused on productivity, and browser startups including Strawberry, Browser Use and Aside are building products centered around AI agents rather than conversational search. Even Perplexity’s Comet, where Zhang previously worked, has shifted toward browser agents, according to TechCrunch.
Madrona believes that transition opens a much larger opportunity. Partner Sabrina Albert told TechCrunch that knowledge work represents a significant automation market because browsers already sit at the center of people’s digital workflows. Since users are already logged into the services they rely on every day, browsers provide AI agents with a natural environment to interact with those applications.
Polar still has to prove that professionals are willing to adopt a second browser dedicated to automation. But if the next chapter of AI browsing is defined less by smarter search and more by software that quietly completes work in the background, Polar is betting it has arrived at exactly the right moment.
