OpenAI Announces SearchGPT

OpenAI announced today that it is testing a “temporary prototype” of new AI search features called SearchGPT that’s behind a waitlist. SearchGPT will give users “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources,” the firm claims.

“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,” the OpenAI announcement explains. “We’re launching to a small group of users and publishers to get feedback. While this prototype is temporary, we plan to integrate the best of these features directly into ChatGPT in the future.”

In OpenAI’s view, today’s web search services (read: Google Search) often require multiple search queries to get relevant results. But it feels that a combination of its ChatGPT-based language models and real-time information from the web can help people find what they’re looking for more quickly.

OpenAI partnered with The Wall Street Journal (through parent company News Corp) and The Atlantic to provide the type of up-to-date information from the web that AI-based chatbots typically lack. The interface is designed to prominently cite and link to these and other publishers in search results. And they’re clearly labeled so you can know whether to trust the information.

The interface works a lot like ChatGPT in that you can ask questions and then follow-up to learn more. As the conversation progresses, SearchGPT will use the shared context of that conversation to improve its answers.

“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,” The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson said, ignoring that OpenAI apparently stole content from The New York Times and others to build its language models. “We look forward to partnering with OpenAI in the process, and creating a new way for readers to discover The Atlantic.”

If you’re interested in testing SearchGPT, you can sign up for the waitlist now.  OpenAI says it will use feedback from testers and its publishing partners to guide future updates to ChatGPT using this technology.