OpenAI plans to announce its AI-powered search product on Monday, according to two sources familiar with the matter, raising the stakes for its competition with search king Google.
The announcement date, though subject to change, was not previously announced. Bloomberg and Information reported that Microsoft ( MSFT.O ), opening a new tab-backed OpenAI, is working on a search product that could compete with Alphabet’s ( GOOGL.O ), opening a new tab Google and Perplexity, a well-funded AI. start the search.
OpenAI declined to comment.
The announcement could be timed a day before the start of the annual Google I/O conference on Tuesday, where the tech giant is expected to unveil a number of AI-related products.
OpenAI’s search product is an extension of its flagship ChatGPT and allows ChatGPT to pull information directly from the web and include citations, Bloomberg reports. ChatGPT is an OpenAI chatbot product that uses the company’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence models to generate human-like responses to text prompts.
Industry observers have long called ChatGPT an alternative for online information gathering, though it struggles to provide accurate information from the Web in real time. OpenAI previously provided integration with Microsoft Bing for paid subscribers. Meanwhile, Google announced generative AI features for its own engine of the same name.
The $1 billion startup Perplexity was founded by a former OpenAI researcher and has gained traction by providing a native AI search interface that displays citations in results and images as well as text in its answers. It has 10 million monthly active users, according to the startup’s January blog post.
At the time, OpenAI’s ChatGPT was called the fastest app ever to reach 100 million monthly active users after it launched in late 2022. However, worldwide traffic to ChatGPT’s website has been on a rollercoaster in the past year and is only now. According to analytics firm Similarweb, it is returning to its May 2023 peak, opening a new tab, and the AI company is under pressure to expand its user base.
An earlier attempt to bring updated and real information to ChatGPT, called ChatGPT plugins, was discontinued in April, according to a help center posting on the OpenAI website.
