Last update:01 November 2024, 12:12 IST

OpenAI launches a ChatGPT-based search engine that affects the flow of Internet traffic in search of news, sports scores and other current information.

ChatGPT’s latest search feature will become a direct competitor to other search engines like Google, Bing, and Microsoft’s Perplexity.

In a major initiative, OpenAI has launched a search function in its chatbot ChatGPT to offer the latest news, sports scores, weather conditions, stock prices, and more. Following the move, shares of Google parent company Alphabet fell nearly 2 percent, while Microsoft shares fell more than 6 percent.

Alphabet shares fell 1.98 percent to $172.65 on Thursday, while Microsoft shares fell 6.05 percent to $406.35 each on the Nasdaq.

Investors are concerned that ChatGPT’s latest search feature could become a direct competitor to other search engines like Google, Microsoft’s Bing and Perplexity.

What is the OpenAI search engine?

OpenAI is launching a ChatGPT-based search engine that could put the artificial intelligence company in direct competition with Google and affect the flow of Internet traffic searching for news, sports scores and other current information.

On October 31, San Francisco-based OpenAI announced that it would offer a search function to paid ChatGPT users, but would eventually expand it to all ChatGPT users. OpenAI began beta testing of the search engine, called SearchGPT, in July.

In a blog post, OpenAI said its new search engine was built with help from news partners including The Associated Press and News Corp. It will include links to sources, such as news and blog posts.

Discussions now include links to sources such as articles or blog posts, which users can access by clicking the “Sources” button below the reply to open a sidebar. OpenAI said it collaborated with its news partners, including The Associated Press, Reuters, Axel Springer, Condé Nast, Hearst, Dotdash Meredith, the Financial Times, News Corp., Le Monde, The Atlantic, Time and Vox Media.

OpenAI search engine: why are Google and Microsoft investors concerned?

This publication could have implications for Google as a dominant search engine. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Alphabet investors have worried that OpenAI could take market share from Google in search by offering consumers new ways to search for information online.

The move also positions OpenAI as more of a competitor to Microsoft and its businesses. Microsoft has invested nearly $14 billion in OpenAI, but OpenAI’s products compete directly with Microsoft’s AI and search tools, such as Copilot and Bing.

On Thursday AMA, OpenAI VP of Engineering Srinivas Narayanan responded to a user question about whether ChatGPT search used Bing as a search engine behind the scenes, writing: “We use a set of services and Bing is an important service. »

OpenAI claims that users can “search in a more natural and intuitive way” and ask follow-up questions “like you would in a conversation.” The search model is a refined version of OpenAI’s most powerful AI model to date, GPT-4o, and is powered in part by third-party search providers and content provided by industry partners. information.

ChatGPT search engine: available for free in the “coming months”

All ChatGPT Plus and Team users, as well as members of the SearchGPT waitlist, can access ChatGPT search starting Thursday, according to an OpenAI blog post. ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu users will have access to it in the coming weeks, and the product will be rolled out to ChatGPT free users “over the coming months,” according to OpenAI.

ChatGPT search engine: how was it developed?

Google shook up its search engine in May with AI-generated written summaries now frequently appearing at the top of search results. Summaries aim to quickly answer a user’s search query so they don’t necessarily need to click a link and visit another website for more information.

Google’s makeover came after a year of testing with a small group of users, but its use still gave rise to lies showing the risks of ceding the search for information to AI chatbots prone to committing fraud. errors known as hallucinations.

The willingness of AI companies to let their chatbots disseminate information gathered by professional journalists has alarmed some news media. The New York Times is among several media outlets that have sued OpenAI and its business partner Microsoft for copyright infringement. The Wall Street Journal and New York Post publisher News Corp sued another AI search engine, Perplexity, earlier in October.

OpenAI Company, Funding

OpenAI closed its latest funding round earlier this month at a valuation of $157 billion, including the $6.6 billion the company raised from a vast list of investment firms and large technology companies. It also benefited from a $4 billion revolving credit line, bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion. OpenAI expects about $5 billion in losses on $3.7 billion in revenue this year, CNBC confirmed in September with a person familiar with the matter.

OpenAI has seen some controversy in recent months surrounding its upcoming transition to a for-profit structure, as well as a series of executive departures. Jan Leike, the company’s former security team leader, wrote on X upon his resignation that “security culture and processes took precedence over shiny products” at the company.

(With contributions from agencies)