OpenAI officially announced its entry into AI search with the launch of SearchGPT. The new product aims to improve upon traditional search methods, offering a conversational interface and citing high-quality information sources.
Key features of SearchGPT include:
- Conversational search interface
- Citations from authoritative sources like publishers and media outlets
- Image and text results combined
SearchGPT is currently in a limited prototype phase, available to only 10,000 testers. It is powered by GPT-4 and will eventually be integrated into ChatGPT.
OpenAI emphasized the importance of reliable information sources, stating that SearchGPT relies on high-quality content from publishing partners rather than ChatGPT's broader training data. Publishers can provide feedback and manage how their content appears in results.
Some notable aspects of SearchGPT:
- Visual answers are planned for the future, possibly integrating OpenAI's Sora video generation model
- Information sources are prominently displayed and credited
- Results include relevant images like event posters
However, SearchGPT's launch was not without issues:
- Errors were found in demo results, like listing outdated events
- The presence of basic mistakes in official demos raised questions about OpenAI's haste
This launch comes amid reports that OpenAI may face up to $5 billion in losses this year, with high AI training and inference costs. The company's annual revenue is estimated between $3.5-4.5 billion.
The AI search market is becoming increasingly competitive, with both tech giants and startups vying for position. OpenAI's entry could potentially influence developments in this space, similar to how ChatGPT sparked widespread interest in large language models.