The AI web browser Dia takes inspiration from its predecessor, Arc. Arc is an early experiment in modernizing the web browsing experience developed by a startup known as The Browser Company. On Sunday, Josh Miller, founder of The Browser Company, confirmed that the new AI browser will bring “Arc’s biggest hits” to Dia, including sidebar mode, and combine it with AI-native features like memory and agents.
This explanation suggests that Dia was subsequently acquired by Atlassian for $610 million. Dia could have an advantage in the AI browser race because it builds on early learnings the company gained from developing Arc.
The latter was first released in mid-2023 as a reinvention of the browser designed around the way people use the internet today. This includes providing separate workspaces for work and personal browsing, support for pinned tabs, a command bar that works like Apple’s Spotlight search, and a sidebar that includes a search bar, tab list, user bookmarks, audio controls, and more.
However, Arc may have tried to push the limits a little too far. Miller later acknowledged that Arc was ultimately too complex for most people to adopt.
“Arc was too different, there were too many new things to learn, and too little reward…What’s more, Arc lacked consistency in both its core functionality and its core values. It was experimental, which was part of its appeal, but it was also complex,” Miller wrote in a blog post earlier this year detailing the company’s decision to downsize Arc and open source it, refocusing the company’s efforts on building Dia.
But even if it never becomes a widely available consumer product, Arc may not necessarily be a failure. Instead, the browser has given us more than a year’s worth of insight into what modern browser features resonate with users and which don’t.
This could help the company move forward as it builds Dia’s feature set.
As Miller says in his post to X, “Dia’s architecture is much better in terms of AI, speed, and security,” but it will introduce features that Arc fans love, like sidebar mode. This was just discovered in the latest “early version” release of the company’s Dia AI browser.
Dia has already added other features for Arc’s “Greatest Hits,” like automatically turning Google Meet into a picture-in-picture player when you switch tabs or custom keyboard shortcuts. Miller hinted that the company is looking at ways to migrate Arc’s Spaces (separate viewing areas with their own pinned tabs, favorites, themes, history, and set of cookies) to Dia. And Dia said his team is currently testing pinned tabs.
Miller also asked for feedback on other features to add, such as swipeable profiles and an Arc Search-inspired update to the Dia mobile app coming in 2026.
In addition, Dia will be less bloated and will be AI-native in terms of things like memory and agents, Miller said.
Following its acquisition by Atlassian, The Browser Company continues to operate independently. As a result, Miller said, the company will be able to add more “browser basics,” referring to Arc’s Favorites feature, to the Dia browser. He also shared that under new ownership, Dia is developing deeper integrations with other apps like Atlassian’s Jira and Linear.
