On Thursday, OpenAI announced that it has upgraded its ChatGPT AI chatbot with integrated search engine capabilities, challenging Google’s long-standing dominance in web search.
This enhancement allows users to receive “fast, timely answers” along with links to relevant web sources, a feature that previously required traditional search engines.
The upgrade enables ChatGPT to access real-time information from across the internet. Users can now find direct tabs on the homepage for various topics, including weather forecasts, stock prices, sports scores, and breaking news. These links will direct users to content from partnered news organizations, such as France’s Le Monde, Germany’s Axel Springer, and the UK’s Financial Times.
The new interface closely resembles search results from Google and Google Maps, but without the clutter of advertisements. It also mirrors the layout of Perplexity, another AI-driven search engine that offers a conversational approach with cited sources.
Both OpenAI and Perplexity are currently facing legal challenges from the New York Times for allegedly scraping or linking to copyrighted material without permission.
Rather than creating a separate product, OpenAI has incorporated the search feature directly into ChatGPT for paying subscribers, with plans to expand availability to free users. Users can opt to enable the search feature by default or activate it manually via a web search icon.
OpenAI noted that any website or publisher can choose to appear in ChatGPT’s search results, and the company is actively seeking feedback from content creators to improve the system.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed enthusiasm for the new search feature, calling it his “favorite feature” since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022. He highlighted its speed and ease of use for finding information.
With a recent valuation of $157 billion following substantial fundraising involving Microsoft, SoftBank, and Nvidia, OpenAI aims to establish itself as a key player in the internet landscape. However, the new search capabilities will likely increase the company’s computing needs and operational costs significantly.
