Fri Nov 01 14:54:25 UTC 2024: ## ChatGPT’s New Search Feature Sparks Concerns for Google and Microsoft
**San Francisco, October 31, 2023** – OpenAI has launched a new search feature within its popular chatbot ChatGPT, aiming to provide users with up-to-the-minute news, sports scores, weather updates, stock prices, and more. The move has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, causing a significant decline in the stock prices of both Google’s parent company Alphabet and Microsoft.
Investors are worried that ChatGPT’s search capabilities could pose a direct threat to established search engines like Google, Bing, and Perplexity. The new feature, dubbed SearchGPT, is currently available to paid ChatGPT Plus and Team users, as well as those on a waitlist, with broader rollout to free users planned in the coming months.
OpenAI claims SearchGPT allows users to “search in a more natural, intuitive way,” resembling a conversation. The search engine is powered by a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, OpenAI’s most advanced AI model, and utilizes information from news partners like The Associated Press, Reuters, and others.
The news comes as Google has been actively incorporating AI-generated summaries into its search results, a move aimed at providing users with quick answers without requiring them to click through to external websites. However, concerns remain about the accuracy and potential for bias in AI-generated content.
While Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI, the new search feature puts OpenAI’s products in direct competition with Microsoft’s own AI and search tools.
OpenAI’s move highlights the increasing competition in the search engine market, with AI playing a central role. The company’s ambitious expansion into search comes at a time when it is transitioning to a for-profit structure and facing controversies regarding its safety culture and executive departures. The company expects to generate $3.7 billion in revenue this year but is also projecting $5 billion in losses.
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