startupdaily
Atlassian’s $1 billion browser bet is crazy, but it’s exactly the cray cray Australia needs
By Will Liang, Co-CEO, Amplify AI Group
Sept 15, 2025
When Atlassian announced it was buying a browser company for $1 billion, most people shook their heads.
A software company famous for Jira and Confluence, suddenly deciding it needs to own the browser?
It sounds insane. But here’s the thing: this is exactly the kind of craziness Australia’s tech sector needs.
Why buying a browser sounds nuts
On the surface, the move makes little sense. The browser is one of the most entrenched pieces of technology in the world, dominated by Chrome, Safari, and Edge.
The idea that a Sydney-born company can carve out meaningful share in that space seems delusional. It’s a market graveyard littered with failed challengers.
And Atlassian’s core business isn’t consumer software – it’s enterprise collaboration tools. A browser looks like a distraction, a shiny toy, a tangent.
But what looks like reckless risk-taking from the outside is something else entirely.
Why it makes sense
The browser is where work happens. It’s the hub for SaaS, cloud tools, and now AI copilots. Whoever owns the browser, owns the daily workflow.
By moving into this space, Atlassian isn’t just making a browser – it’s making a play to redefine the work operating system.
In a world where every SaaS tool fights for attention, the browser is the one layer above them all.
Atlassian’s bet is that the future of productivity isn’t in standalone apps, but in how those apps connect, surface context, and deliver AI-augmented workflows seamlessly through the browser itself.
That’s not a crazy idea. That’s bold strategy.
Why Australia needs this kind of crazy
Australia’s tech scene has a problem: we play it too safe. We celebrate incremental wins, not moonshots.
We optimise for efficiency, not for breakthroughs.
Atlassian has always been the exception – building global-first products, taking risks, and setting the pace for what an Australian company can achieve on the world stage.
Yes, buying a browser company looks like overreach. Yes, it may fail spectacularly.
But that’s the point. If Atlassian isn’t pushing boundaries, then who in Australia will?
We don’t need another cautious success story. We need companies willing to take big, improbable bets that, if they land, can reshape entire industries.
The other environmental footprint consideration is the use of cooling for the generation of power. This has been discussed in recent articles in the AFR.
Other areas being debated are, eg, the potential for a universal income if the productivity gains come to fruition and taxing the companies which gain from AI for fairer distribution of benefits.
The lack of visibility of these issues in industry and the media is likely to change as the bigger questions around the impact on society will come to light.
AI is a technology where many aspects are grappling with and certainly one that governments should collaborate to achieve a better outcome.
A call to back boldness
So when we see Atlassian do something that looks crazy, we shouldn’t dismiss it. We should ask ourselves: why more Australian companies aren’t taking swings like this. Because in the age of AI, safe bets don’t win. They just keep you treading water.
Atlassian’s browser gamble may end up in the failure column. Or it may turn into the most important productivity platform of the next decade. Either way, it’s the kind of ambition that puts Australia on the map.
And if that’s crazy? Then Australia needs a whole lot more crazy.
x
Solving your hardest problems with AI and data
