OpenAI Launches Real-Time Search Engine 'Search GPT'... Google Shares Fall

OpenAI has introduced Search GPT, a search engine that has been widely rumored since early this year. Rumors have it that competition with Google has finally begun. Google's stock price fell by 3 percent on the day.

OpenAI announced on its official blog on the 25th (local time) that it has developed a prototype version of its artificial intelligence (AI)-based search engine "Search GPT."

First of all, it said it will conduct tests on small test groups and publishers. It did not reveal the official release schedule. Instead, it is initially available to users who have registered on the waiting list.

Search GPT provides a summary of information from various sources, including news from partners such as News Corp and Atlantic Magazine, in response to user questions. Similar to ChatGPT, users can ask additional questions. Sidebars have also been developed to allow users to view many results and sources on relevant information.

OpenAI said it has also worked with various publishers to develop search engines and has also prepared measures for them.

Publishers can choose not to use their content to train the model of open AI, and it can still be displayed in search results. The move comes after AI search feared that it would reduce traffic that was previously used to search and weaken the profit base.

As reported by The Verge, SearchGPT is based on the GPT-4 family model, which is currently accessible to 10,000 test users.

In addition, this version is only a prototype and aims to improve the performance of answers by integrating real-time search function into ChatGPT. In other words, it is unclear whether Search GPT will be officially released as a separate product.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also told X (Twitter) on the same day, "We think we have room to make a much better search than we do today."

When Search GPT was released on this day, most media in the United States focused on the search competition with Google. It was also mentioned that Google's stock price fell 3%.

Google introduced "AI Overview," an AI search function, in May. Many analysts say that Search GPT is similar to AI Overview.

Of course, there is no sign so far that Google's status is shaken by generative AI. Google's net profit increased by nearly 60% in the first quarter as search advertising sales increased. Google's advertising business sales rose 11.1% year-on-year to $64.6 billion in the second quarter.

It remains strong in terms of market share as well. According to data from Bank of America, ChatGPT web visits fell 12% in June, while Google's global search market share rose to 91.1%.

However, the AI search market is generally on the rise. Start-up PurpleLexity is attracting attention as a dark horse in the AI search market, and Microsoft also integrated features similar to Google's AI overview into Bing search on the previous day.

Meanwhile, immediately after the launch of Search GPT on the same day, Atlantic and other media pointed out that some hallucinations were seen.

Among the demo videos released by OpenAI on the day included the contents of the festival in August, and the date that Search GPT informed was different from the actual one.