The news: Atlassian—maker of Jira, Confluence, and Trello—will buy Arc and Dia creator The Browser Company for $610 million in cash, per TechCrunch.

The deal could transform Arc from a niche experiment into an Atlassian-owned gateway for enterprise work, much like how Chrome became a container for Google’s services.

Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes put it bluntly: “Today’s browsers were built for browsing, not work.” He’s betting on an AI-powered, productivity-first browser stitched into Atlassian’s stack.

Why it matters: The browser is the one app that runs everywhere—PCs, tablets, and phones. If Atlassian can remake Arc into the “work browser,” it locks users more tightly into its ecosystem.

Before shutting down in May, Arc was pushing radical tab and workspace management, customization, built-in tools, and generative AI (genAI) integration. Expect those features to reemerge—this time tied to Atlassian’s platforms.

With backing from leaders at Figma, Notion, LinkedIn, and GitHub, Arc always leaned toward work and productivity. Atlassian’s ownership could help it realize its full potential. 

Browsers look to diversify: Just days after a federal judge spared Google from breaking up Chrome—cementing its 67.1% global market share, per StatCounter—Atlassian is charting a different course.

Google’s legal win keeps Chrome glued to the center of consumer web traffic. Challengers have carved niches to remain relevant, examples include crypto-friendly browsers like Donut and Opera or AI-powered bets from Perplexity and OpenAI. Arc and its AI chatbot successor Dia are the first to go all-in on enterprise, becoming Atlassian’s work conduits.

Our take: Chrome’s continued dominance could lead to a more concentrated browser market—pushing competitors to seek smaller niches to control.

With over 300,000 customers worldwide, Atlassian has the reach to seed Arc across enterprises as the “work browser.” If it succeeds, the shift could pressure Chrome’s dominance, at least for business use, and signal a broader redefinition of browsers from neutral gateways to productivity ecosystems.