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OpenAI officially take on search

OpenAI officially take on search

The battle for search supremacy continues. OpenAI release a prototype product called SearchGPT to directly compete with Google et al.

Backlog
July 31, 2024

SearchGPT / openai.com

ChatGPT vs. Google, a tale as old as… well, like, a year ago?

Since the release of ChatGPT et al., many have announced the demise of the traditional search engine. Why would you ask Google, get served 10 blue links (most of which are ads), and painstakingly navigate back and forth instead of just asking the GPT?

While the reports of Google’s death have been greatly exaggerated (StatCounter announced a significant drop in Google searches in April 2024 only to retract their research citing an ‘anomaly’), OpenAI are taking a proper crack at it this time.

Introducing SearchGPT, a prototype of ‘new AI search features’ that provides clear answers and cites sources. Is this a new way to search? Unsure. Even OpenAI themselves call it a ‘temporary prototype’, whatever that means.

Here’s what the CEO had to say:

we think there is room to make search much better than it is today.
we are launching a new prototype called SearchGPT:
we will learn from the prototype, make it better, and then integrate the tech into ChatGPT to make it real-time and maximally helpful.
— Sam Altman (@sama)
7:10 PM • Jul 25, 2024

You can judge for yourself by joining the beta.