OpenAI challenges Google's dominance with new ChatGPT search engine

OpenAI, the tech firm behind the generative artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, has significantly enhanced its chatbot, integrating search engine capabilities to challenge tech giant Google's long-standing dominance in web search.

The company said that the latest upgrade allows users to receive "fast, timely answers" with direct links to relevant web sources, where they may access information that previously required traditional search engine.

The revamped ChatGPT can now deliver real-time information on various topics, including weather forecasts, stock prices, sports scores and breaking news, the company said.

These inlcude direct access to sourced material from partners that have signed content deals with OpenAI, including France's Le Monde, Germany's Axel Springer and the United Kingdom's Financial Times.

Examples of the new interface shown on the OpenAI website closely resembled search results on Google and Google Maps, though without the clutter of advertising.

Rather than launching a separate product, OpenAI has integrated search directly into ChatGPT for paying subscribers, though this will be expanded to users that use the free version of the chatbot.

Users can enable the search feature by default or activate it manually via a web search icon.

The company added that any website or publisher can opt-in to appear in ChatGPT's search results, with OpenAI actively seeking feedback from content creators to refine the system further.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote Thursday on X that search is his "favorite feature we have launched" on ChatGPT since the bot's debut in 2022.

"I find it to be a way faster/easier way to get the information I'm looking for," Altman added on Reddit.