OpenAI competes with Google, launches ChatGPT search engine

OpenAI challenged Google's decades-long hegemony in web search on Oct 31 by upgrading its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot with search engine capabilities. Users can now receive "fast, timely answers" along with links to relevant websites, which were previously necessary when using traditional search engines, according to the company.

With ChatGPT's major update, the AI chatbot can now deliver real-time information from the internet. The company added that ChatGPT's homepage can now provide direct access to sourced content on topics including breaking news, sports scores, and stock prices, in addition to weather forecasts.

These would connect to news and information from providers, including the UK's Financial Times, Germany's Axel Springer, and France's Le Monde, which have content agreements with OpenAI.

The OpenAI website displayed glimpses of the new interface, which looked a lot like Google and Google Maps search results but without the cluttered advertising.

Additionally, it resembled the user interface of Perplexity, another AI-powered search engine that provides a more conversational Google with answers that cite sources.

The New York Times is suing both OpenAI and Perplexity for unauthorized copyright content scraping and linking.

OpenAI has integrated search into ChatGPT for paying customers instead of releasing a stand-alone product; however, this will eventually be extended to users of the chatbot's free version.

The search function can be explicitly activated using a web search icon, or it can be enabled by default. Any publisher or website can choose to appear in ChatGPT's search results, the company said, adding that OpenAI is actively seeking input from content producers to improve the system further.

The responses provided were outdated since data on AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT or Claude from Anthropic, has been constrained by time cutoffs since their initial launch.

Since OpenAI lacks a standalone search engine that provides more immediate data, this has been perceived as a shortcoming of AI chatbots. In contrast, both Google and Microsoft integrate online results with AI responses.

Since there will be no advertising for the time being, ChatGPT may provide much cleaner results than Google.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on Oct 31 on X that search is his "favorite feature we have launched" on ChatGPT since the bot's debut in 2022.

"I find it to be a way faster and easier way to get the information I'm looking for," Altman commented on Reddit.

The launch will cast further doubt on the startup's relationship with Microsoft, a significant OpenAI investor that is also attempting to outperform Google with its Bing search engine.

Altman has set his business on a course to become a major force in the internet.

Microsoft, Tokyo-based conglomerate SoftBank, and AI chipmaker Nvidia were among the investors in a recent funding round that propelled the company to an astounding $157 billion valuation.

Offering search engine capabilities to attract more customers will raise the company's already high computing requirements and expenses.