5 Major Reasons You Should Avoid Switching to an AI Browser Right Now

Artificial intelligence keeps popping up everywhere these days. Your phone has it, your apps have it, and now even your web browser wants a piece of the action.

Companies like OpenAI with ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity with Comet are pushing AI browsers as the next big thing that will change how you surf the internet. They promise to make your life easier by booking flights, answering emails, and shopping for you. But here’s the thing: you should probably avoid switching to an AI browser for now.

These fancy new tools come with some serious problems that could put your personal information at risk, slow down your computer, and open doors for hackers. Before you jump on the AI browser bandwagon, you need to know what you’re getting into.

This article breaks down five major reasons why sticking with your regular browser might be the smarter choice right now.

1. Prompt Injection Attacks Can Trick Your Browser Into Doing Harmful Things

Prompt injection attacks are one of the scariest security problems with AI browsers. Think of it like this: someone leaves a hidden note that only the AI can read, and that note tells your browser to do something bad. You can’t see it, but the AI follows the instructions anyway.

Here’s how it actually works. When you visit a website, hackers can hide malicious commands in the page content. These commands are written in ways that trick the AI browser into thinking they came from you.

The AI then does whatever the hidden message says, even if it means stealing your passwords or sending your bank information to criminals.

Real Examples of Prompt Injection Vulnerabilities

Researchers at Brave, a company that makes privacy-focused browsers, found some shocking vulnerabilities. They tested Perplexity’s Comet browser and discovered that hackers could hide attack commands in almost invisible text. The researchers used light blue text on a yellow background that humans couldn’t really see, but the AI read it perfectly.

The AI browser followed these hidden instructions and could be manipulated into visiting phishing websites or sharing sensitive user data with attackers. This isn’t just a theory. It actually happened in real testing environments.

Another scary discovery came from SquareX researchers. They found that AI systems struggle to tell the difference between trusted user commands and untrusted website content when building prompts. This means your browser might not know if you’re telling it to check your email or if a malicious website is telling it to steal your email password.

Why Traditional Security Doesn’t Work Here

Regular browsers have been around for decades. They’ve built up strong security over time based on one simple rule: code from one website shouldn’t mess with another website. But AI browsers throw that rule out the window. When you have an AI assistant that can’t reason by itself and just follows instructions, what happens? Jailbreaks.

The problem is that AI browser agents pose a larger risk to user privacy compared to traditional browsers because they need so much access to do their job. Even OpenAI’s security officer admitted that prompt injection remains an unsolved security problem that hackers will spend serious time and resources trying to exploit.

2. Social Engineering Tricks Work Even Better on AI Browsers

You’ve probably heard about social engineering attacks where hackers trick people into clicking bad links or downloading viruses. Well, these attacks work differently and more dangerously with AI browsers.

The ClickFix Attack Gets an AI Upgrade

Researchers discovered a new twist on old hacking methods. Hackers can use regular conversation tricks to manipulate the AI’s basic desire to help its user. They don’t need complicated code anymore.

Here’s an example that actually worked in tests. Someone sends a message claiming to be a doctor with test results. The message includes a link that needs a CAPTCHA to open. Normal browsers would make you solve the CAPTCHA yourself. But the AI browser thinks it’s being helpful.

The AI agent convinces itself that it doesn’t need the human’s attention to solve the CAPTCHA, so it clicks a harmful button that exposes the device to viruses.

This is terrifying because the AI makes the decision without asking you. It thinks it’s doing you a favor by handling the boring CAPTCHA, but it’s actually letting hackers into your system.

Financial Loss From Automated Shopping

The damage isn’t just digital. Since the AI browser can access saved payment information, hackers can leverage the social engineering-prompt injection combo to purchase items from fake websites. Imagine waking up to find out your browser bought $5,000 worth of stuff from scam sites while you were sleeping, all because a hacker left a convincing message that the AI thought was legitimate.

The worst part? With AI browsers, humans can be excluded from the security picture, and it’s still remarkably easy to trick agents into making poor decisions.

Also Read: ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Perplexity: Which AI Gives the Best Shopping Advice?

3. Fake Sidebars and Interface Tricks Target You Directly

Not all attacks target the AI directly. Some go after you, the user, in ways that are hard to spot.

How Hackers Create Fake AI Interfaces

Most AI browsers have a sidebar where you can chat with the AI assistant. This seems convenient until you learn that hackers create lookalike sidebars that trick users into thinking they’re talking to their trusted AI agent when information is actually being sent to criminals.

The fake sidebar is created using malicious browser extensions that inject JavaScript code into what you see on your screen. You might look at your AI browser and see nothing unusual because the legitimate sidebar has been duplicated perfectly. Everything looks normal, but you’re actually typing your passwords and personal questions into a tool controlled by hackers.

What Information Gets Stolen

Researchers at SquareX found that these fake interfaces could hijack email addresses. They also discovered that asking questions about cryptocurrency could lead users to phishing websites that steal digital wallets. There are probably other ways this attack works that haven’t been found yet.

The scary part is that none of the main players in the AI browser space have addressed these loopholes at the time of writing. Companies are rushing to release AI browsers without fixing these basic security problems.

4. Your Personal Data Gets Collected and Shared Without Your Knowledge

Privacy concerns with AI browsers are huge. These tools need access to almost everything you do online to work properly, and they’re collecting way more information than you probably realize.

What Data Do AI Browsers Actually Collect

A major study by researchers from UCL, UC Davis, and Mediterranea University found shocking results. Popular AI web browser assistants are collecting and sharing sensitive user data, such as medical records and social security numbers, without adequate safeguards.

The research team tested ten popular AI browser extensions including ChatGPT for Google, Merlin, Microsoft Copilot, and others. They found that these AI browser assistants operate with unprecedented access to users’ online behavior in areas of their online life that should remain private.

Here’s what they’re grabbing:

• Your complete web browsing history
• Every website you visit and how long you stay
• Form data including passwords and credit card numbers
• Health records from medical portals
• Banking and financial information
• Social security numbers and tax information
• Personal emails and messages
• Calendar events and contacts
• Photos and documents

One researcher was shocked when Merlin collected form inputs including a social security number that was provided in a form field on the IRS website. That’s incredibly sensitive information just floating around in some company’s database.

They Track You Even in Private Browsing Mode

You might think using incognito mode would help. It doesn’t. Some tools continued tracking user activity even during private browsing, sending full web page content, including confidential information, to their systems.

The study found that some assistants violate US data protection laws such as HIPAA and FERPA by collecting protected health and educational information. These are federal laws designed to protect your most sensitive data, and AI browsers are breaking them.

Your Data Trains Their AI Models

Even worse, your personal information doesn’t just sit in a database. Data in Personal Search features is used to train and improve AI models, meaning your search history, emails, and family photos could be used to personalize responses and in some cases be shared with third parties.

Think about that for a second. Private photos of your family, confidential work emails, medical diagnoses—all of this could become training data for the next version of the AI. Once it’s in the training data, you can’t get it back. It’s permanent.

Third-Party Sharing Makes Things Worse

Many AI browsers don’t just keep your data for themselves. Certain assistants share information not just with their own servers but also with third-party servers like Google Analytics. This means multiple companies are building profiles about you based on everything you do in your browser.

According to research from UCL, most AI browser extensions show evidence of widespread tracking, profiling, and personalization practices that violate privacy principles. Only Perplexity AI showed no evidence of these practices in initial testing.

5. AI Browsers Drain Your Computer’s Resources and Slow Everything Down

Beyond security and privacy, there’s a practical problem: AI browsers can turn your fast computer into a slow, overheating mess.

Excessive CPU and Memory Usage

Running AI requires serious computing power. When that AI lives in your browser, your computer has to do all that heavy lifting. AI browsers can consume excessive CPU and memory resources, causing computers to overheat, slow down, and potentially crash.

Mozilla Firefox tried to add AI features to its browser in July 2025. The update brought AI-enhanced tab groups, which sounds useful. But users quickly noticed problems. CPU usage was reported to reach thresholds of 130%. That means the browser was trying to use more processing power than the computer even had.

Real Performance Issues

The problems aren’t just theoretical. People using ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI’s new browser, found the experience frustrating. Simple tasks like adding items to an Amazon cart can take minutes. That’s ridiculously slow compared to regular browsers where clicking “add to cart” happens instantly.

Your laptop battery also takes a hit. When your CPU runs at maximum speed constantly, the battery drains much faster. You might get half the usual battery life just because your browser is working so hard to run AI models.

Heat and Hardware Damage

With such an overload on a computer’s inner components, your laptop will start overheating and slow down, and if left unchecked could lead to a crash. Constant overheating isn’t just annoying—it can actually damage your computer’s hardware over time and shorten its lifespan.

Gaming laptops and high-end computers might handle it better, but most regular laptops weren’t built to run AI models locally. If you’re using an older machine or a budget laptop, an AI browser could make it nearly unusable.

The Technology Isn’t Mature Yet

According to security analysis from TechCrunch, AI browsers often struggle with complicated tasks and take a long time to complete them. The technology simply isn’t ready for everyday use yet. Companies are releasing these products before they work properly because they want to be first to market, not because the products are actually good.

Conclusion

AI browsers sound amazing in theory—imagine having a smart assistant that handles your online tasks automatically. But the reality right now is messy and dangerous.

The five major reasons to avoid switching to an AI browser are clear: prompt injection attacks that let hackers control your browser through hidden commands, social engineering vulnerabilities that trick the AI into harmful actions, fake interface attacks that steal your information directly, massive privacy violations where your sensitive data gets collected and shared without permission, and serious performance problems that slow down your computer.

Traditional browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge have spent decades building strong security. They’re fast, stable, and don’t collect nearly as much personal information.

Until AI browser companies fix these fundamental problems with security, privacy, and performance, you’re better off sticking with what works.

The convenience of AI automation isn’t worth risking your bank account, personal data, and computer health. Wait until the technology matures and these critical issues get resolved before making the switch.