Arc Had Millions of Users. Why They Left It Behind for Dia. | Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company

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Jul 2, 2025

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Hursh Agrawal

Guest

Josh Miller

Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal, cofounders of The Browser Company, discuss their bold move from the popular Arc browser to the AI-driven Dia. They reflect on the intense backlash faced after discontinuing Arc and the challenges of innovating in a competitive landscape. The duo highlights how Dia personalizes user interactions over time, transforming browser technology. They also delve into the emotional connections AI can foster and emphasize the importance of adaptability and authentic experiences in the evolving tech industry.

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00:00 / 00:00

The Arc to Dia Pivot Struggle

Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal experienced intense pressure and uncertainty during their pivot from Arc to Dia.
They managed to stay committed despite millions of users relying on Arc and mixed internal and external reactions.

00:00 / 00:00

AI Is Changing Computer Interfaces

AI is fundamentally changing how we interact with computers, shifting primary interfaces.
The browser is becoming a personal intelligence layer rather than just a tool for tabs and websites.

00:00 / 00:00

Backlash After Arc Shutdown

The Browser Company faced unexpected, intense backlash when announcing the end of Arc to build Dia.
Internally they had wrestled for months but underestimated external reaction to pivot from Arc.

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If you had millions of people using a product you spent years building, would you kill it?

That’s exactly what The Browser Company did with Arc.

The internet backlash was intense, but cofounders Josh Miller and Hursh Agrawal saw that AI was about to make the web something you talk to, not just click into. The best home for that assistant was the thing that's already between you and the internet—the browser. And they realized they couldn’t just duct-tape it on to Arc.

One year of heads-down work later, the team launched Dia in beta, and people are raving about it. Dia is a sleek, fast, browser with AI at its core—it gets better with every tab you open, becoming more and more helpful with time.

And even though it’s still early, Josh and Hursh’s big pivot looks like one for the ages.

This week on AI & I, Josh and Hursh joined me for their first full-length podcast about their pivot from Arc to Dia. We talk through their decision-making process, the very public backlash the company faced, and the grit it took to stay the course.

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Timestamps for Spotify:

Introduction: 00:01:13
The story of how Dan might’ve been the CEO of The Browser Company: 00:02:47
The moment Josh and Hursh knew they had to walk away from Arc: 00:09:42
How to handle the weight of the unknown in a pivot: 00:17:08
The prototype-driven culture that kept The Browser Company alive: 00:23:31
Why having a product loved by millions of users isn’t enough :00:25:42
The architectural decisions underlying how Dia was built: 00:33:29
How Dia almost shipped without its best feature: 00:47:12
The best ways people are using Dia in the wild: 00:51:18
How Josh and Hursh think about competing with incumbents: 01:07:55
How romanticism informs the product decisions behind Dia: 01:17:04

Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Hursh Agrawal: @hursh
Josh Miller: @joshm
More about Dia: https://www.diabrowser.com/
Writer and investor M.G. Siegler’s essay about the AI browser wars: https://spyglass.org/ai-browser-wars/