OpenAI adds new search feature to ChatGPT

OpenAI today added a set of new search features to its popular ChatGPT large language model, choosing to integrate the feature into the chatbot instead of launching a separate product.

The artificial intelligence giant is entering territory long dominated by Alphabet-owned Google and also pits it against OpenAI-backed Bing, Microsoft and new services such as Perplexity, the search chatbot firm backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and semiconductor giant Nvidia.

OpenAI said ChatGPT search will select web searches based on what users ask and will provide fast and timely answers with links to relevant web sources.

“ChatGPT Search uses third-party search providers, as well as content provided directly by our partners, to provide the information users are looking for,” OpenAI said in a blog post.

The search model is a modified version of GPT-4o, the startup said, adding that all ChatGPT Plus and Team users will have access to it today.

Enterprise and education customers will be able to access these features in the coming weeks, and they will be available to free users in the coming months.

The Sam Altman-led startup has signed content deals with several publishers this year, including Condé Nast, Time magazine, the Financial Times, Business Insider owner Axel Springer, France’s Le Monde and Spain’s Prisa Media.

OpenAI said it is actively collaborating with the news industry and collecting feedback from its partners on the search feature. Any website or publisher can join the ChatGPT search.

In July, OpenAI selectively launched SearchGPT, a prototype artificial intelligence-powered search engine with real-time access to information from the Internet.

Earlier in October, OpenAI raised $6.6 billion in funding from investors, which could value the company at $157 billion and solidify its position as one of the most valuable private companies in the world.