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| Logo of Google Disco, an experimental AI browser prototype from Google Labs. |
If you've been following the tech world's obsession with AI browsers, the list of contenders has been growing fast. Startups like Perplexity have made waves with their Comet browser, OpenAI is working on the mysterious "Atlas," and even The Browser Company has its AI-infused Dia. But the giant of the web has been conspicuously absent from this new fight—until now.
Google has finally thrown its hat in the ring, but not with a dramatic overhaul of its billion-user Chrome browser. Instead, the company is taking a surprisingly cautious, experimental approach. Its entry is called Disco, a new "Google Labs" experiment currently available only in the United States via a waitlist.
What Exactly Is Disco?
Google isn't calling Disco the future of Chrome—at least not yet. They describe it as a "discovery vehicle designed to test ideas for the future of the web." In plain English, it's a standalone test browser where Google can throw its most ambitious AI features at real users to see what sticks, without risking the stability of its flagship product.
The first major feature coming out of this experiment is called GenTabs, and it aims to solve a very modern problem: tab overload. GenTabs uses Google's most advanced AI model, Gemini 3, to analyze your messy collection of open tabs and your chat history. Then, it attempts to synthesize that information into something entirely new: an interactive, custom-built web app tailored to your specific task.
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| GenTabs can create a bespoke web app or tool on the fly based on your current open tabs. |
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| An example of a Bunk Bed Picker tool created by GenTabs in the Disco browser. |
How GenTabs Promises to Work
The pitch is deceptively simple. Imagine you’re planning a complex home renovation, researching across a dozen tabs for materials, design ideas, and tutorials. Instead of frantically switching between tabs, you could ask GenTabs to "create a tool to compare the cost and durability of these flooring materials from my tabs."
According to Google, you won't need to write a single line of code. You describe what you need in natural language, refine the idea through chat, and Gemini 3 builds a bespoke, functional web app on the fly to help you get it done. It’s like having a developer and a research assistant baked directly into your browser.
You can read Google's official announcement and see the first demos of this technology in action on the Google Labs blog here.
Familiar Demos, Unfamiliar Potential
If the initial use cases Google is showcasing—trip planning, meal prep, garden layouts—feel a little repetitive, you're not alone. These have been the go-to examples in virtually every AI product demo for the past two years. It raises the question: are we seeing a genuine leap forward, or just a more integrated version of existing AI assistants?
This is where Disco's true purpose becomes clear. Google isn’t betting the farm on Disco becoming your next main browser. The real test is in the underlying technology. Can an AI truly understand context across multiple websites and create a useful, unified tool from them? If GenTabs can reliably pull that off, the implications are huge.
The Inevitable Chrome Connection
The most telling part of this launch is what it isn't. Disco is a side project, a sandbox. Its existence all but confirms that Google sees AI as the next major evolution of the browser, but isn't ready to rebuild Chrome from the ground up—yet.
Industry watchers see Disco for what it is: a public R&D lab. If even a fraction of these ideas prove successful and popular with testers, you can bet they will eventually find their way into Chrome. Google has a long history of testing features in standalone apps (like Google Earth or Lens) before integrating them into its core products.
How to Try It (If You Can)
For now, access is limited. If you’re in the U.S. and want a firsthand look at what might be coming to Chrome in a year or two, you can sign up for the Disco waitlist. Google states it is initially rolling out the browser for macOS users first, with Windows and Linux versions expected to follow later.
The AI browser wars are heating up, and Google has just entered the arena with its most interesting experiment in years. Disco might not be the finished product, but it's a direct window into the company's vision for a web that doesn't just display information, but actively builds tools to help you understand it. The race to redefine browsing is officially on.