ChatGPT's New Search Feature: A Game Changer?

Asking a chatbot for the latest sports scores, stock quotes, or news updates, and getting real-time answers. That's what OpenAI has just made possible with its new search feature in ChatGPT. This move puts OpenAI in direct competition with search giants like Google and Microsoft's Bing. The feature, called SearchGPT, was beta-tested in July. It uses real-time web searches and collaborates with news providers like the Associated Press and Reuters to deliver up-to-date information. Why is this a big deal? Well, for one, it could shake things up for Google, which has dominated the search engine market. Investors in Alphabet, Google's parent company, have been worried about this since ChatGPT's launch in November 2022. After all, ChatGPT offers a new way to seek information online. But it's not just Google that should be concerned. Microsoft, which has invested a substantial amount in OpenAI, might also feel the heat. OpenAI's products, including this new search feature, compete directly with Microsoft's own AI and search tools, like Copilot and Bing. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, is excited about this new feature. He calls it his favorite addition to ChatGPT since its launch. Users can now search in a more natural way and even ask follow-up questions, just like in a conversation. The search model is a fine-tuned version of OpenAI's most powerful AI model yet, GPT-4o. One of the cool features is that ChatGPT will automatically search the web based on your queries. You can also manually click the web search icon if you prefer. Plus, the chats now include links to sources like articles or blog posts, which you can access by clicking the "Sources" button. OpenAI plans to keep improving the search feature, particularly in areas like shopping and travel. They aim to leverage the reasoning capabilities of their AI models to delve deeper into research.