Report: OpenAI is Working on Web Search Feature for ChatGPT
- Laurent Giret
- May 08, 2024
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OpenAI is reportedly planning to add web search capabilities to ChatGPT. The Information first revealed back in February that OpenAI was working on web search features for its AI chatbot, and Bloomberg has now followed up with the first details about how searching the web with ChatGPT could work.
“The feature would allow users to ask ChatGPT a question and receive answers that use details from the web with citations to sources such as Wikipedia entries and blog posts,” the report reads, citing one person familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, one version of the new search feature can also display images alongside written responses to help users better understand the chatbot’s responses.
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ChatGPT quickly became one of the fastest-growing apps of all time when it launched in the fall of 2022, and Google top executives reportedly saw it as a “code red” threat for the company’s search business. Google and Microsoft were pretty quick to respond with their own ChatGPT-like products, though ChatGPT still enjoys more mindshare than both Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot.
However, one of the main issues with ChatGPT and other generative AI apps is the risk of copyright infringement. ChatGPT generates its responses using publicly available content, and unlike Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, the chatbot doesn’t cite its sources. On the Microsoft side, Bing puts Copilot AI-generated responses next to traditional search results, and Google also does something similar with its experimental Search Generative Experience.
OpenAI will likely need a full-fledged web search product if it wants to better compete with Google and other companies integrating generative AI into search. Google, which remains the most popular way to search for information online, is also expected to announce its latest AI innovations at its annual I/O developer conference starting next week on May 14. Microsoft will likely follow up with more Copilot updates during its Build conference on May 21-23.