OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee in 2023. On Thursday, OpenAI Thursday announced an AI search engine prototype called SearchGPT. It will be tested with roughly 10,000 users having access. The company plans to integrate it into its ChatGPT. File Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE
July 25 (UPI) — Open AI said Thursday it has created a prototype AI search engine called SearchGPT. After more development, the search engine will be integrated into its chatbot ChatGPT.
“We’re testing SearchGPT, a prototype of new search features designed to combine the strength of our AI models with information from the web to give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources,” Open AI said in a statement. “We’re launching to a small group of users and publishers to get feedback.”
The company said SearchGPT “will quickly and directly respond to your questions with up-to-date information from the web while giving you clear links to relevant sources.”
It doesn’t just return links, but summarizes findings and includes short descriptions of the search topics.
OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood told The Verge the SearchGPT prototype will be accessible to 10,000 test users as it launches.
The company said enhancing the conversational abilities of their search engine models with real-time web information will make finding what people are looking for both faster and easier.
The prototype search engine allows follow-up questions during searches, and that shared context builds with each query.
Open AI said it is partnering with publishers and creators to help users “discover publisher sites and experiences, while bringing more choice to search.”
The Atlantic’s CEO Nicholas Thompson said in a statement, “AI search is going to become one of the key ways that people navigate the internet, and it’s crucial, in these early days, that the technology is built in a way that values, respects, and protects journalism and publishers. We look forward to partnering with OpenAI in the process, and creating a new way for readers to discover The Atlantic.”
In April, eight newspapers sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement for using newspaper content to train artificial intelligence.
“We’ve spent billions of dollars gathering information and reporting news at our publications and we can’t allow OpenAI and Microsoft to expand the Big Tech playbook of stealing our work to build their own businesses at our expense,” Frank Pine, executive editor for MediaNewsGroup and Tribune Publishing, said in a statement when the suit was filed.
Plaintiffs in the suit were The Chicago Tribune, The New York Daily News, The Orlando Sentinel, The Sun Sentinel of Florida, The San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, The Orange County Register and The St. Paul Pioneer Press.
According to Open AI, SearchGPT will prominently cite publishers and link them to searches.
The search engine prototype will compete with Google‘s search engine.
Google’s AI Overview was launched in May but experienced issues with search results. Google parent company Alphabet shares were roughly 2.5% lower Thursday as Open AI announced its AI search engine prototype.
