OpenAI is finally moving all the way in on Google’s territory by announcing a search engine prototype that could eventually compete with the established brand.
There’s no denying ChatGPT — the AI chatbot from OpenAI — has had a meteoric rise in popularity over the last few years. The AI chatbot has seen millions of users, thousands of integrations, and dozens of updates to make it one of the most used AI chatbots available today.
Now, with the release of an AI-powered search engine, OpenAI could make the jump from generative AI poster child to genuine household name.
OpenAI Announces SearchGPT
Announced in a company blog post, OpenAI is officially testing out an AI-powered search engine that will integrate the ChatGPT technology with existing content on the web to make searching for topics easier.
OpenAI has made it clear that SearchGPT is currently just a prototype, but that they “plan to integrate the best of these features directly into ChatGPT in the future.”
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If you’re interested in being one of the first people to use SearchGPT, you can join the waitlist here, or just wait until this functionality becomes available to everyday users of ChatGPT.
What Can SearchGPT Do?
So, what exactly is SearchGPT and what can it do? Well, for starters, let’s hear what OpenAI has to say about what SearchGPT actually is.
“SearchGPT [is] a prototype of new search features designed to combine the strength of our AI models with information from the web to give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” – ChatGPT website
Beyond that, OpenAI noted that SearchGPT will differ from other search engines in ways that may make it a more attractive option for current web users. Here are some of the things that SearchGPT can do:
- Answers questions with sources – When you ask a question or make a query, you’ll receive an answer just like ChatGPT, but you’ll also get access to links and sources for that information to make searching easier.
- Ask follow-up questions – You’ll be able to ask relevant follow-up questions to search queries, which will make the search process more conversational for users.
- Discover publisher sites and experiences – SearchGPT aims to highlight quality content more effectively so you can discover sites that mesh with your needs.
Is AI Good for Search?
To be clear, this move is far from a surprise. Generative AI has already been paired with other search engines, with Google already rolling out its Gemini functionality on its own search engine.
However, that rollout has had some decidedly mixed results. The feature — dubbed AI Overviews — had a rough launch, providing a wide range of answers that were not only incorrect but also incredibly dangerous in certain situations. From recommending users eat rocks to adding glue to cheese to make it better for pizza, the initial problems were substantial.
This led Google to discontinue the summaries for period of time, leading many to wondering if AI and search go together at all. So, will SearchGPT be able to avoid the pitfalls of its big tech counterpart? Or will the search engine prototype suffer the same hallucinations that led Google Gemini’s abysmal beginning? You’ll have to jump on the waitlist to find out.
