Key points:

  • OpenAI could introduce an AI-powered search engine. It could become a direct competitor to Google Search.
  • Google has announced generative AI features for its search engine.
  • ChatGPT is the fastest growing app, reaching 100 million monthly active users.

OpenAI, known for its developments in the field of generative artificial intelligence, may introduce its AI-based search product.

While the exact announcement date has not been confirmed and is subject to change, the news marks a significant step in the competitive search engine market dominated by Google.

As reported by Bloomberg and The Information, OpenAI’s search product has the potential to compete not only with Google, but also with Perplexity, another well-funded startup developing an AI search engine.

Competition against Google

On Friday, OpenAI announced a livestream for Monday that will feature “some updates to ChatGPT and GPT-4.”

The company’s CEO Sam Altman later added: “This is not a GPT-5 release or a search engine, but we have been working hard on new features that we hope you enjoy!”

After initially falling more than 2% following Altman’s announcement, Alphabet shares have partially recovered and are currently trading down 0.9%.

OpenAI’s announcement may be a strategic move ahead of Google’s annual conference, which starts on Tuesday. The tech giant is expected to unveil a number of new AI-related products at the event.

Is the future in Open AI?

While industry experts have long touted ChatGPT as a potential replacement for traditional online data collection methods, it still struggles to provide accurate information from the internet in real time. OpenAI previously provided paid subscribers with Microsoft Bing integration to address this issue.

In response, Google announced generative AI features for its search engine.

Perplexity, a startup founded by a former OpenAI researcher and valued at $1 billion, is gaining popularity for its AI-powered search interface that displays results in the form of quotes, images and text. According to the startup’s blog post from January, it has 10 million monthly active users.

It’s worth noting that OpenAI’s ChatGPT product became the fastest-growing application, reaching 100 million monthly active users just a few months after its launch in late 2022.