OpenAI launches ChatGPT research with a direct challenge to Google’s search empire
OpenAI on Thursday announced its new search service ChatGPT. Available on the company’s ChatGPT website and through its Android and iOS apps, the search platform stands as the biggest potential threat to Google’s ( GOOG , GOOGL) for years.
Shares in Google parent Alphabet were down 1.5% after the news, roughly in line with the tech sector, which saw a reduction in concerns about the industry’s use of AI-based technology and consumer acceptance.
OpenAI announced that it was testing a temporary search service in July, and this is the result of those tests. The Microsoft-backed company (MSFT) says that in addition to pulling general information from the web, the search platform will offer weather, sports, stock, news and maps.
The search platform, the company says, uses its GPT-4o model and also provides information from third-party search providers and partners that have signed data sharing agreements with OpenAI.
OpenAI says its search service will reduce the need to do a lot of research for your questions by asking questions in a conversational format and then following up on those answers.
The company also says that users will be able to use ChatGPT as the default search engine in the Google Chrome browser by downloading and installing its Chrome extension.
Currently, ChatGPT search is only available to ChatGPT Plus and Group users and people who have signed up to SearchGPT’s waiting list. Business and education users will be able to use the service in the coming weeks, while free users will gain access in the coming months.
GPT search poses a major threat to Google, which generates most of its revenue through its search advertising service. And the accident could not have come at a worse time. Google is already fighting two antitrust suits related to its search and advertising controls, and adding a new challenger to the list of challenges will sting.
It doesn’t help that ChatGPT was one of the fastest growing apps, and that it continues to be popular among users. By adding powerful AI search to its arsenal, it becomes a major thorn in Google’s side.
Indeed, the tech giant still maintains a staggering 90% market share, according to data from StatCounter. The next closest competitor, Bing, has only 3.96% of the market. The company also has no financial problems. In its latest quarter, advertising revenue reached $65.8 billion, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $65.5 billion and increasing from $59.6 billion in the same quarter last year.
Google is also not sitting still on the AI front: The company already offers its AI Overviews section, which includes AI-generated answers to user search queries in addition to the usual list of link results. the blue ones.
Microsoft has also tried to take over Google’s search business by adding OpenAI’s AI capabilities to its Bing search engine, but that hasn’t done much to attract Google’s leadership.
However, if OpenAI’s GPT search overtakes Google when it comes to consumer search results, it could start to undermine Google’s security.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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