By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
OpenAI is enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) bot with new capabilities, aiming to surpass Google as the leading search engine. The company announced that it is testing a search feature that integrates real time information into its ChatGPT product. This allows the bot to answer user queries with current data and relevant links. Presently, the tool is accessible to a select group of users in the US but is expected to be integrated into ChatGPT, which gained significant attention when it debuted in 2022.
Backed by Microsoft, OpenAI has since introduced various tools for coding, video creation, data analysis, and image generation. The new search tool will enable users to ask follow up questions related to their initial queries. OpenAI emphasized that finding answers on the web often requires multiple attempts, but enhancing their models with real time web information could make this process faster and more efficient.
Analysts have long suggested that AI chatbots represent the future of search, a domain currently dominated by Google, which holds over 90% of the global market. In response to OpenAI’s advancements, shares of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, dropped nearly 3%. Other AI firms are also developing search products, but Google remains the market leader.
The rise of AI has sparked environmental concerns due to the significant energy consumption of these systems. Additionally, the shift from traditional search results to conversational responses has worried news organizations that depend on search traffic for revenue. OpenAI is collaborating with publishers like The Atlantic and News Corp to address these issues. The company expressed its commitment to supporting a thriving ecosystem of publishers and creators.
OpenAI has also introduced a way for publishers to manage their appearance in SearchGPT, giving them more control. The company has faced legal challenges, including a lawsuit from The New York Times for allegedly using content without permission to train its systems. Despite this, OpenAI has formed partnerships with media outlets such as the Associated Press, ensuring that even those who decline to contribute material for training can still feature in search results.
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