Google in panic: OpenAI launches AI-based search engine, SearchGPT

As Google rushes to integrate AI-based features into its search engine, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has surprisingly launched a prototype for its own AI-based search engine - SearchGPT.

What’s unique about it? The engine features a large text box asking users, "What are you looking for?" Instead of returning a typical list of links, the engine organizes and comprehends the results. SearchGPT summarizes findings in an organized and understandable manner, providing direct answers to queries instead of a simple list of site links. For example, it can summarize various music festivals or explain the best time to plant tomatoes.

Predictably, the launch of SearchGPT poses a significant threat to Google, which has already started integrating AI capabilities into its search engine out of fear of losing users. OpenAI also enters direct competition with the startup Perplexity, which offers an AI-based answer engine.

SearchGPT is a prototype that will be launched in a limited edition for selected users to test the technology and fix potential errors before a broader launch. In the future, the engine will be integrated globally into ChatGPT, likely with an additional fee.

The Concern: A Threat to Large and Small Content Providers OpenAI’s new search engine, SearchGPT, although it draws its information from various content sites, might keep users within its platform, thereby cutting off writers from their "lifeline" - website traffic. Following the announcement of SearchGPT, concerns are rising among small media outlets and bloggers about the potential impact on their site traffic. The main concern is that by providing direct answers to queries, SearchGPT might reduce the need for users to visit the actual websites, thus harming ad revenues and exposure. This is similar to what is happening with Google’s search engine in some countries as part of an experiment.

To allay fears, OpenAI emphasized that SearchGPT was developed in collaboration with various partners in the news industry and places importance on giving credit and directing users to the original content sites. Additionally, OpenAI allows content providers to manage how their content appears in SearchGPT, even allowing them to opt out of using their content for training OpenAI models.