In what’s seen as a direct challenge to Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL), OpenAI has launched a new online search feature within ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is the artificial intelligence (A.I.) chatbot that was launched by privately held OpenAI two years ago.
The new search feature is called “SearchGPT,” and it offers up-to-the-minute sports scores, stock quotes, news, weather updates, and more information.
OpenAI says that SearchGPT is being powered by partnerships it has with news and data companies, including Canada’s Thomson Reuters (TRI).
SearchGPT will compete against Google, which controls 90% of the market for online search. OpenAI’s new search feature will also compete against Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bing search engine.
Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest investor, having allocated $14 billion U.S. to the A.I. company.
OpenAI says SearchGPT will enable people to search the internet in a more intuitive and conversational way.
The search function that’s being launched is a version of OpenAI’s most powerful A.I. model called “GPT-4o,” and is powered by content provided from news sources.
SearchGPT launches at a time when Alphabet faces multiple anti-trust lawsuits accusing it of operating a monopoly in online search.
OpenAI is a privately held company and its stock doesn’t trade on a public exchange. OpenAI was valued at $157 billion U.S. in a recent funding round.
