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OpenAI brings search functionality to ChatGPT, challenging Google

OpenAI is adding a range of new search features to its flagship ChatGPT product, deepening the artificial intelligence startup’s challenge to Alphabet Inc. Google.

The ChatGPT Search option allows chatbot users to search for current information similar to the web and receive answers with direct attribution to news publishers and other data sources, OpenAI said Thursday. The company launched a prototype of the product in July called SearchGPT, which was separate from its ChatGPT app and only available to a limited number of users.

The new search features, using OpenAI’s 4o model, will go live for paid ChatGPT Plus and Teams users on mobile and web starting Thursday. OpenAI enterprise and education customers will gain access to the features in the coming weeks, with free version users sometime in the coming months.

After ChatGPT’s viral success in late 2022, tech companies rushed to integrate generative AI into a long list of services, including online search. OpenAI supporter Microsoft Corp. and Google have have revised their search products to incorporate more conversational AI features. According to Bloomberg, Perplexity, a rival AI search startup, is currently in early talks to raise $9 billion in funding previously reported. With ChatGPT Search, OpenAI is ready to bring similar AI search capabilities to the 250 million people who use the chatbot every week.

Shares of Alphabet fell more than 1% on Thursday following the news.

“People want answers when they search for things, and it’s hard to get an answer on the internet right now. It takes multiple searches and a lot of links to go through,” said Varun Shetty, head of media partnerships at OpenAI, in an interview with Bloomberg News. “We feel that being able to ask in a conversational way with all the relevant context and quality sources on the other side just makes this a better experience.”

In a pre-release demo, the OpenAI team used the feature to Ask ChatGPT about weekend events in San Francisco. The app showed a summarized list of activity pulled from local news websites. In a follow-up question about searching for restaurants, ChatGPT displayed a map of local restaurants. While ChatGPT previously included some quotes in its answers, the new search feature displays summaries of sources and thumbnails more clearly.

OpenAI has laid the foundation for its search offering through a growing number of search offerings License agreements with publishersincluding News Corp.Axel Springer SE, Time Magazine and European media companies such as Le Monde. The partnerships allow OpenAI to incorporate more reliable and timely information into its products. OpenAI said it incorporated feedback from publisher partners for ChatGPT Search on how the chatbot decides which articles are most relevant, as well as determining abstract length and citations for articles.

“We believe AI search will be an important way to access information in the near future and for generations to come, and partnering with OpenAI positions Le Monde at the forefront of this change.” Louis DreyfusLe Monde’s chief executive said in a statement.

OpenAI said its tool will not favor news publishers that work with the company. Any website and publisher can choose to appear in ChatGPT search, it said. The company also wants to ensure its search product is useful to people looking for information beyond hard news.

“Search is such a vast area and this is our first foray into it,” Shetty said. “We’re going to have to spend a lot of time improving experiences and focusing on shopping, travel and local – all of those verticals that matter.”

Still, like all generative AI products, OpenAI must face the risk that its new search tool could invent incorrect answers to questions. For example, after SearchGPT was launched in July, Reporters noted that a demo for the product contained the wrong dates for a festival.

There is particularly a lot at stake for OpenAI his rivals to release accurate information about next week’s US elections. According to OpenAI, starting on Election Day, ChatGPT users asking about election results will see a message encouraging them to check news sources such as the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as their state or local election authorities.

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