Report: OpenAI working on web search product
The creator of the popular generative AI tool ChatGPT may be working on a search engine to try and compete with Google.
OpenAI has been developing a web search product, partly powered by Microsoft Bing, a source told The Information.
This shouldn’t be too surprising, considering:
- OpenAI has a web crawler, GPTBot.
- ChatGPT Plus users can also use Browse with Bing to search the web.
- Microsoft Bing uses OpenAI’s GPT-4, customized for search.
Why we care. OpenAI has created a popular product in ChatGPT and I’ve seen much anecdotal evidence that some people use it similarly to a search engine. If OpenAI actually does release a Search product, it will be worth watching to see it becomes a source of any significant organic traffic or value for brands and businesses.
Could OpenAI challenge Google Search? I’m all for more search alternatives. But could OpenAI develop a search engine to truly rival Google? I’m extremely skeptical at this time.
Look no further than Microsoft – a $3 trillion company – which has failed to make little progress versus Google for two decades, even after all the AI Search investments and features it has rolled out over the past year. See: One year later: Little change to Microsoft Bing’s search market share
Google is Search – it is a habit for people, as pointed out recently in testimony by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the still unresolved Google antitrust trial.
We’ve seen so many search engines launch with hype about it being the latest and greatest “Google killer” (Blekko, Cuil, Neeva, et al.) – then ultimately fail. The reality? Google Search is always the real killer.
In terms of understanding how far ChatGPT has to go: Google got an estimated 84.2 billion visits while ChatGPT got an estimated 1.6 billion in December.
The report. OpenAI Develops Web Search Product in Challenge to Google (subscription required).
Dig deeper. No, ChatGPT isn’t stealing Google’s search market share
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About the author
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.