Atlassian moves into AI browsers with $610 million purchase of The Browser Company
Workplace collaboration and productivity tool maker Atlassian has agreed to acquire The Browser Company, the developer of Arc and Dia, in a deal valued at around $610 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of Atlassian’s 2026 fiscal year, subject to the usual regulatory approval and closing conditions. The acquisition will reportedly be funded in cash from Atlassian’s balance sheet.
The deal will bring The Browser Company’s two products under Atlassian’s umbrella. Arc has drawn interest as an alternative to Chrome, while Dia is described as an AI-powered browser designed for work. Neither product is particularly well known, but Atlassian wants to transform Dia into a tool that changes how knowledge workers interact with SaaS applications.
“Today's browsers weren't built for work, they were built for browsing. This deal is a bold step forward in reimagining the browser for knowledge work in the AI era,” said Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian’s CEO and co-founder. “By combining The Browser Company’s passion for building beloved browsers with our two decades of understanding how knowledge workers operate, we see a huge opportunity to transform the way work gets done. Together, we'll create an AI-powered browser optimized for the many SaaS applications living in tabs -- one that knowledge workers will love to use every day.”
Dia will reported be retooled for SaaS apps, with features such as AI skills, a personal work memory, and advanced tab context to connect tasks across different tools.
Josh Miller, The Browser Company’s CEO and co-founder, said the deal would allow his team to pursue its goals more quickly. “For laptop workers, your browser is where your job actually happens -- where you spend hours working within tabs every day,” he said. “That context, plus access to your tools, is incredibly valuable for AI. Atlassian gets that. Teaming up means we can move faster, dream bigger, and focus on building an AI browser for work that people genuinely love to use - one that is trusted by companies but feels personal to every individual.”
Atlassian said more than 300,000 customers, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, already use its products, and that it has seen 2.3 million monthly active users of its AI capabilities, with usage growing by over 50 percent quarter over quarter. It’s banking on its reach to drive Dia’s growth.
AI browser need
Still, questions remain. Arc and Dia have not yet achieved mainstream visibility, and browsers are a market long dominated by Chrome, Safari, and Edge.
Whether Atlassian can persuade workers and IT departments to adopt a new browser, even one designed with AI at its core, is the big question. Perplexity AI, which recently made a ridiculous bid to buy Google Chrome, has its own Comet browser with built-in AI summarisation and task automation, while OpenAI is reportedly preparing its own AI browser.
Atlassian is paying a high price for a relatively young business, and it will be interesting to see if this gamble pays off.
What do you think about Atlassian spending $610 million to acquire The Browser Company? Let us know in the comments.