The Browser Company Considers Selling or Open-Sourcing Arc Browser Amid AI-Driven Pivot

Prime Highlights:

The Browser Company may sell or open-source Arc Browser as it shifts to develop Dia, an AI-first browser.
Maintenance-only updates will be sent to Arc in the future; all innovation transfers to the new AI-driven Dia platform.

Key Fact:

The advanced nature of Arc Browser prevents it from mass appeal despite having a loyal niche constituency.
Dia is a companion, AI-driven browser designed to replace outdated tab-style browsing.

Key Background:

The Browser Company, the organization behind its revolutionary Arc Browser, is purposely changing gears in 2025 by investing its energy in creating an AI-first browser named Dia. Founded by Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, the company introduced Arc in 2023 to revamp the internet experience with the such as vertical tabs, split views, and a command palette. Although the product was critically acclaimed for its innovation, it did not become popular due to its complex UI and unconventional workflows.

Now, the company is investing in Dia, a simpler, AI-driven browser hoping to appeal to a broader audience. CEO Josh Miller calls Dia’s mission providing smart guidance throughout the web browsing experience—an experience Arc was never designed to do natively. Unlike Arc’s home-grown feel, Dia is being built from the ground up with AI as the main foundation, with plans to provide more straightforward interaction and productivity benefits for everyday users.

Along with this shift, The Browser Company is ceasing additional feature work on Arc but will continue with maintenance releases. The company is exploring two primary choices: either selling Arc to another company or open-sourcing the browser for the community. Open-sourcing does have technical and strategic concerns, however, particularly as Arc is built using the proprietary Arc Development Kit (ADK)—the same engine that powers Dia.

This move portends a bigger industry trend: AI is reengineering core software experiences at an accelerating rate. Arc may have opened the door, but Dia will power the next generation of browsers. With a few Arc users already trying out Dia in alpha form, The Browser Company appears hell-bent on making browsing smarter, simpler, and more adaptive with the help of artificial intelligence.