OpenAI Tests New AI Search Features in Direct Challenge to Google

OpenAI is letting a limited group of users test a new set of search features that will answer questions with more timely information and prominent links to sources, marking its most direct challenge yet to Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

The new option, called SearchGPT, will be released as a prototype available on a web browser and give users a standalone search experience that could later be added to its best-known product, ChatGPT. OpenAI said users will see responses to their queries with in-line attribution to creators and news publishers, including from the growing number of media companies that have struck licensing deals with the startup in recent months. SearchGPT will also let users ask follow-up questions without losing context from the original query.

OpenAI declined to give a timeline for when SearchGPT will roll out but said it will initially be available to users who sign up for a waitlist. OpenAI said it’s working with creators and publisher partners to get feedback on the new tool, and plans to integrate the most successful search features into ChatGPT. Bloomberg previously reported OpenAI was readying a search product.

With the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, OpenAI sparked a race to infuse generative AI into a range of core internet services. Google and OpenAI-backer Microsoft Corp. overhauled their search products with more conversational AI features while startup Perplexity introduced a search-oriented AI app. Now, OpenAI is pushing ahead with its own vision for AI search.