OpenAI is gearing up to unveil its latest artificial intelligence-powered search product, as reported by Reuters. The announcement, slated for Monday, marks a significant development in OpenAI’s quest to compete with search giant Google. While the exact announcement date had not been previously disclosed, sources familiar with the matter revealed this information to Reuters. Both Bloomberg and the Information have previously reported OpenAI’s collaboration with Microsoft, indicating its intent to challenge Google’s dominance in the search arena alongside Perplexity, a well-funded AI search startup.
Although OpenAI declined to comment prior to Reuters’ report, the company later confirmed plans for a live event on Monday to showcase updates to its ChatGPT and GPT-4 models. CEO Sam Altman clarified on social media platform X that the announcement would not involve GPT-5 or a search engine, hinting at the unveiling of other innovative features.
Following Altman’s post, Alphabet’s stock experienced a partial recovery from an initial decline, ultimately settling at a 0.9% decrease. The timing of OpenAI’s announcement, just a day before Google’s annual I/O conference, suggests a strategic move to preempt Google’s unveiling of AI-related products during the event.
OpenAI’s forthcoming search product is an expansion of its flagship ChatGPT, enabling the AI model to retrieve information directly from the web, complete with citations. ChatGPT, known for its human-like responses to text prompts, has been positioned as an alternative for online information gathering. However, its ability to deliver accurate and real-time web information has been a point of contention. In a bid to enhance its capabilities, OpenAI integrated ChatGPT with Microsoft’s Bing for paid subscribers. Meanwhile, Google has been introducing generative AI features for its own search engine.
Startup Perplexity, founded by a former OpenAI researcher, has emerged as a formidable player in the AI search landscape. With a valuation of $1 billion, Perplexity has gained traction by offering an AI-native search interface that includes citations and multimedia content in its responses. Despite its rapid growth, OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains a dominant force, boasting 100 million monthly active users shortly after its launch in late 2022. However, fluctuating website traffic over the past year indicates the company’s ongoing efforts to expand its user base.
OpenAI’s previous initiative, ChatGPT plugins, aimed to integrate updated and real-world information into the AI model but was retired in April, as confirmed by a help center posting on OpenAI’s website.
