OpenAI’s ambitions to challenge industry giants like Google and Bing, and startups like Perplexity the company has unveiled its latest innovation: SearchGPT. Designed to offer real-time, AI-powered search capabilities, SearchGPT aims to revolutionize the way users interact with search engines, providing timely and relevant answers sourced from the web.
SearchGPT introduces a user-friendly interface reminiscent of OpenAI’s popular chatbot platform, ChatGPT. Users simply type in their queries, and SearchGPT responds with comprehensive information, images, and links to relevant sources. This functionality is enhanced by the ability to ask follow-up questions and explore related searches through a convenient sidebar.
One standout feature is SearchGPT’s location awareness. OpenAI notes that the service can tailor search results based on the user’s general location, such as providing local restaurant recommendations or weather updates.
SearchGPT leverages the power of OpenAI’s latest models, including GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and GPT-4o. Initially launched as a prototype, it is currently accessible to a select group of users and publishers, with a broader rollout anticipated in the future. OpenAI has indicated plans to eventually integrate SearchGPT’s capabilities into ChatGPT, enhancing its functionality with real-time web information.
In their blog post, OpenAI highlighted the promise of their new tool: "Finding answers on the web often demands considerable effort and several attempts to get accurate results. By integrating real-time web information with the conversational strengths of our models, we aim to make the search process quicker and more efficient.
The launch of SearchGPT comes at a time when AI-powered search tools are facing scrutiny over issues like plagiarism, inaccuracies, and the potential to cannibalize traffic to content creators. Notable incidents include Google’s AI suggesting unconventional pizza recipes and Perplexity’s AI allegedly copying content without proper attribution.
OpenAI has taken steps to address these concerns. SearchGPT is designed to prominently cite and link to publishers, providing clear, in-line, named attributions. OpenAI is collaborating with publishers to refine the search experience and offering tools for website owners to manage how their content appears in search results. Importantly, OpenAI clarifies that participation in SearchGPT does not equate to training OpenAI’s generative models with a site’s content.
SearchGPT focuses on search engines, and it's separate from the training of OpenAI's AI models, It can crawl websites on the internet that are not part of the training.
SearchGPT’s release as a prototype allows OpenAI to fine-tune the service based on user feedback and performance. This strategic approach provides a buffer against potential missteps, such as incorrect or misleading search results, by framing the service as an evolving project.
The development of SearchGPT has been closely watched, with reports from sources like The Information and Bloomberg highlighting OpenAI’s efforts to recruit top talent from competitors like Google. This move signals OpenAI’s intention to establish a strong foothold in the search market, leveraging its advanced AI capabilities to offer a compelling alternative to existing search engines.