OpenAI is poised to announce a new search product driven by artificial intelligence, potentially posing a significant challenge to Google’s search supremacy. According to “two sources familiar with the matter,” OpenAI plans to unveil its search offering on Monday, just ahead of Google’s annual I/O conference kickoff.
Reports suggest that OpenAI’s search product could rival Google’s own AI models, including Gemini and Gemma. This development aligns with earlier indications from Bloomberg and The Information, hinting at OpenAI’s foray into AI-driven internet search capabilities. Bloomberg notes that OpenAI’s search feature might integrate with its ChatGPT chatbot and incorporate citations, while The Information suggests it could leverage Bing’s infrastructure.
Previously, OpenAI explored providing ChatGPT access to real-time web data through plugins, although these efforts have transitioned to GPTs. Despite its rapid adoption for information retrieval tasks since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has faced criticism for its accuracy and timeliness of information.
While Google faces mounting competition in the search industry, the company is acutely aware of the shifting landscape. Google’s search head, Prabhakar Raghavan, recently cautioned employees about the evolving market dynamics and emphasized the importance of Google’s trusted reputation in verifying information.
“People come to us because we are trusted,” Raghavan emphasized, highlighting Google’s critical role in an era of generative AI. However, OpenAI appears intent on leveraging that trust, reportedly aggressively recruiting Google employees to bolster its search efforts.
OpenAI’s move comes amidst a broader trend of AI-focused challengers emerging in the search space. Perplexity, a $1 billion startup founded by a former OpenAI researcher, claimed 10 million monthly active users for its AI-based search product earlier this year.
As Google confronts these challenges, it also grapples with ongoing antitrust scrutiny regarding its dominance in search. OpenAI’s potential entry into the search market just before Google’s I/O event signals a strategic move, underscoring the growing competition in the search landscape and the significance of OpenAI’s rapidly expanding services like ChatGPT.