OpenAI is making a highly anticipated foray into the search market with SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine that provides real-time access to internet information. The confirmation came this Thursday when the company unveiled SearchGPT, a novel search feature designed to provide users with real-time responses to their inquiries, utilizing web-based sources.
The search engine operates on OpenAI models, including GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and GPT-4o, and remains in the early testing phase, with the company still designating it as a 'prototype.' The company has announced plans to eventually incorporate some of its features into ChatGPT.
Source: OpenAI
The search engine begins with a large textbox prompting the user, "What are you looking for?" Instead of just listing links, SearchGPT aims to organize and interpret them. For instance, OpenAI demonstrates how the search engine can summarize information on music festivals, offering brief descriptions and attribution links.
In another case, it details the optimal time for planting tomatoes and outlines the various types. Users can pose follow-up questions or explore related links in the sidebar after the initial results. Additionally, there's a feature named "visual answers."
Currently, SearchGPT is a "prototype." It runs on the GPT-4 model series and will be available to 10,000 testers initially. Kayla Wood, an OpenAI spokesperson, mentions that OpenAI is collaborating with external partners and utilizing direct content feeds to compile its search outcomes. The ultimate aim is to merge these search capabilities with ChatGPT.
This marks the beginning of what might pose a significant challenge to Google, which has been quick to integrate AI features into its search engine to prevent users from migrating to rivals that introduce such tools first. This move also places OpenAI in closer competition with Perplexity, a startup that markets itself as an AI "answer" engine. Perplexity has faced recent backlash over an AI summaries feature that was accused of plagiarizing content.
OpenAI declares that its engine prominently cites and links to publishers within searches, providing clear, in-line named attribution. Additionally, the company is collaborating with publishers to develop a method for website owners to track the presentation of their content in search results.
This comes amid substantial criticism of AI developers for purportedly utilizing content from creators, particularly on YouTube, to train their models without permission. It is yet to be determined if the company will fulfil its promises.