The wait is finally over, OpenAI has launched the search engine. ChatGPT now offers improved web search capabilities for timely, accurate answers, blending natural language interaction with up-to-date data in sports, news, stock quotes, and more.
Available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users, and rolling out to others soon, this feature enables deeper engagement with source-linked information, enhancing users’ access to trustworthy content.
Shortly after a user on X spotted the search feature in ChatGPT, OpenAI released a statement confirming the same.
"The search model is a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained using novel synthetic data generation techniques, including distilling outputs from OpenAI o1-preview" mentioned OpenAI in the official release document.
search is my favorite feature we have launched in chatgpt since the original the launch!
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 31, 2024
it has probably doubled my usage over the past few weeks. https://t.co/alD11AwUUb
OpenAI has also released a feature that now lets users search for content from their previous conversations. It was also seen that ChatGPT is working on integrations with Slack and Google Workspace for enterprise customers, enabling them to add external information and context to ChatGPT.
It will be interesting to see how ChatGPT Search compares against the likes of Perplexity, Bing and Google's AI overviews. However, OpenAI had an embarrassing moment just after it unveiled the search engine a few months ago, with users spotting an error in its demo.
Google has always had an edge over other search engines, thanks to its rich integration of local business listings and mapping services. OpenAI needs to crack this code if it were to beat Google in the long run.
That said, users will certainly experience a clean, ad-free search experience on ChatGPT, thanks to Sam Altman's stance against including ads anytime soon.
While we're not sure if it's related, OpenAI has decided to roll out ChatGPT Search on the same day Google announced an AI learning tool called Learn About.
While Microsoft's Bing leveraged GPT 4's capabilities as a search engine, it may very well be made redundant once ChatGPT search is rolled out for all users. Moreover, Microsoft has done little with Bing to compete against the existing competition with Perplexity.
Search engines that leverage generative AI, especially Perplexity, have mostly had a turbulent relationship with publishers and the media industry. OpenAI, on the other hand, has struck partnerships with some of the most notable names in the industry, like Le Monde, Vox, News Corp, TIME, and Financial Times. OpenAI will certainly leverage its access to information from top publishers in SearchGPT. Interestingly, News Corp was one of the many publishers who slapped a lawsuit against Perplexity.
“We are committed to a thriving ecosystem of publishers and creators. We hope to help users discover publisher sites and experiences, while bringing more choice to search. For decades, search has been a foundational way for publishers and creators to reach users. Now, we’re using AI to enhance this experience by highlighting high quality content in a conversational interface with multiple opportunities for users to engage” said OpenAI, in a blogpost published a few months ago.
“We are convinced that AI search will be, in a near future and for the next generations, a primary way to access information, and partnering with OpenAI positions Le Monde at the forefront of this shift.”, said Louis Dreyfus, CEO of Le Monde, emphasising the strategic alignment with OpenAI to innovate while upholding journalism’s core values.
Moreover, we're curious to see how ChatGPT Search will position itself against Perplexity in the near future. Perplexity has been on a feature release spree, and is going all in on making the tool a one stop solution for knowledge seekers. Their internal search tool, knowledge cards, Spaces and a financial analysis tool offer a tremendous amount of value to the user. Perplexity is also set to raise $500 million, that will more than double its valuation to $8 billion.
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity was quick to respond after OpenAI's announcement. He mentioned that Perplexity isn't just about providing information for users' queries but also directing them to links and websites to help them navigate the web efficiently.
The AI search engine space isn’t just about Google and Perplexity - OpenAI will also be competing against the upcoming Meta's search engine.
[Updated: November 2, 2024 | 15:00] The headline has been revised to highlight the competitive landscape in the search market as OpenAI enters the field.
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