A bold move to compete with Google’s search engine

Microsoft-backed OpenAI has announced the launch of SearchGPT, an innovative AI-powered search engine that is poised to rival Google’s stronghold in the billion-dollar search market.

The creator of ChatGPT unveiled this prototype Thursday evening, demonstrating the combination of conversational AI with real-time internet data.

OpenAI, headquartered in California, has opened signups for SearchGPT, which is currently being tested with a select group of users and publishers. “Getting answers online can take a lot of effort, often requiring multiple attempts to get relevant results. We believe that by enhancing the conversational capabilities of our models with real-time information from the web, you can find what you are looking for faster and easier,” the company said.

Google, owned by Alphabet, dominates more than 90% of the global search engine market and generates significant revenue from advertising. Alphabet reported an 11% increase in advertising revenue to $64.6 billion in the second quarter of the year.

Unlike the existing ChatGPT, SearchGPT provides answers with clear, in-line attribution and links, allowing users to easily verify sources and interact with additional results via a sidebar.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, backed by a $13 billion investment from Microsoft, OpenAI has been seen by Alphabet investors as a formidable competitor, potentially threatening Google’s market share.

Google is also improving its search capabilities with AI. The generative AI model, Gemini, was integrated into the search engine through a feature called AI Overviews, which launched in the United States in May. This feature provides users with quick topic overviews and links for further learning.

As OpenAI enters the search engine arena with SearchGPT, the Internet search landscape is poised for a significant transformation.