AI-Powered Browser Just Generates Every Website From Scratch
XDA Developers reports: On July 22, a Google DeepMind engineer, Vidy Thatte, shared a snippet of a browser he built that "treats every URL as a prompt and generates a site from scratch" on his X account. Just a few days later, he shared a TestFlight link to let iPhone users try it for themselves. The browser he launched is called Gem, and it's a browser that doesn't really...browse. Instead of…
On July 22, a Google DeepMind engineer named Vidy Thatte posted a prototype of a browser he developed on his X account. A few days later, he made a TestFlight link available for iPhone users to test the browser, which he called Gem. Unlike traditional browsers like Chrome or Safari, Gem doesn't retrieve webpages from servers. Instead, it takes any URL you input and sends it to Google's Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite model, which then generates a webpage on the spot.
If you input a real address, Gem creates its own interpretation of that site; if you input an invalid one, Gemini makes up a website to display. XDA Developers reported that Given the speed and cost-effectiveness of Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, there's little difference between loading a webpage and generating a brand-new one instantly.
However, Gem requires users to provide their own Gemini API key, which is linked to their Google account and billed for usage. Users can obtain a free key from Google AI Studio and enter it into Gem's settings. Despite the free starter option, the author encountered usage limits within minutes of trying Gem. The author's own site displayed the Gemini logo, but clicking it revealed 24 customization options, such as dark mode, reader view, and various themes.
As the author navigated Gem, every edit happened almost instantly, and the articles they viewed were presented in different themes, including dark mode, a newspaper layout, and even a webcomic style. For non-existent websites, Gem generated entirely original pages with fabricated content, like LinkedIn profiles with made-up follower counts.
While this prototype offers a unique browsing experience, its reliance on user-provided API keys and rapid, potentially costly usage could limit its widespread adoption.
Written by urgent.news from Slashdot's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
