OpenAI Enhances ChatGPT with Search Tools to Compete with Google

OpenAI adds search engine features to its ChatGPT AI chatbot so that it can give quick answers and website links. The goal is to compete with Google’s dominance in web search.

OpenAI announced on Thursday that it has improved its ChatGPT AI chatbot by adding search engine features. OpenAI aims to challenge Google’s enduring dominance in web search. People who use the app can now get “fast, timely answers” and links to useful websites. Previously, only traditional search engines could do this.

With the update, ChatGPT can now get information from all over the internet in real time. Users can now find direct tabs on the home page for a wide range of topics, such as stock prices, weather forecasts, sports scores, and breaking news. People can use these links to go to content from news outlets that work together, like Le Monde in France, Axel Springer in Germany, and the Financial Times in the UK.

There aren’t as many ads on the new interface, but it looks a lot like Google search results and Google Maps. It also looks a lot like Perplexity, which is another AI-powered search engine that lets you talk to search results and see citations. The New York Times reports that OpenAI and Perplexity are facing lawsuits for allegedly scraping or linking to copyrighted content without permission.

Instead of making a separate product, OpenAI has built the search function right into ChatGPT for paid subscribers. They plan to make it available to free users as well. Users can choose to have the search feature turned on by default, or they can use a web search icon to turn it on themselves.

OpenAI Invites Publishers to Join ChatGPT Search Results

OpenAI said that any website or publisher can choose to show up in ChatGPT’s search results. The company is also asking content creators for feedback on how to make the system better.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was excited about the new search feature and said it was his “favorite feature” since ChatGPT launched in 2022. He talked about how fast and easy it is to use it to find information.

With a recent valuation of $157 billion thanks to big investments from Microsoft, SoftBank, and Nvidia, OpenAI wants to become a major player in the internet world. But the new search features are likely to make the company’s computer needs and operating costs go up by a lot.