The Browser Company explains why it stopped developing Arc

The Browser Company has said repeatedly that it’s not getting escaped of the Arc browser arsenic it moves onto its caller AI-centric Dia browser. But what the institution besides not going to bash is make caller features for it. A new blog post from CEO Josh Miller explains why, and what happens next.

The Arc browser was a large rethink of what browsers should beryllium like, and it has dedicated users, including yours truly. But a batch of the reasons for ceasing Arc’s improvement that Miller gives successful the blog — similar that it’s excessively analyzable to spell mainstream, that it was dilatory and unstable astatine times (true!), oregon that The Browser Company wants to recenter the acquisition connected AI — helium besides gave backmost successful October. 

Why not conscionable rotation Dia into Arc? One large happening Miller mentions is security. Arc has had astatine slightest 1 large information issue: a information researcher discovered a vulnerability past year that The Browser Company rapidly patched, but which fto attackers insert arbitrary codification into a users’ browser league conscionable by knowing their idiosyncratic ID. According to Miller, The Browser Company has present grown its information engineering squad from 1 idiosyncratic to five. This absorption is peculiarly important, helium writes, arsenic AI agents — AI systems that transportation retired tasks autonomously — go much prevalent. 

As for what this each means for Arc and its users, Miller inactive insists that the browser won’t spell away. Arc volition inactive get information and bug fixes, and volition beryllium tweaked arsenic the Chromium codification it’s based connected is updated. But helium besides says The Browser Company isn’t going to open-source oregon merchantability Arc, due to the fact that successful summation to Chromium, it’s built connected a customized infrastructure that besides underpins Dia. He says the institution would similar to unfastened the browser up someday, but not until “it nary longer puts our squad oregon shareholders astatine risk.”

The Browser Company didn’t instantly respond erstwhile The Verge asked whether that aforesaid bigger information squad is besides moving to enactment up the information of Arc itself. We volition update arsenic we larn more.