Looks like OpenAI has been listening, as just this evening they put out a real stunner: their take on a new, game-changing product in the form of SearchGPT. For what might be the first time in the longest time, Google might have real competition for that throne as king of the search.
Powered by AI, SearchGPT is a new type of search engine that’s about to change the way we find and use information on the web. This is hardly a small update; this is a tectonic shift change that rearranges the digital world. Let’s go through what SearchGPT means for you, the future of the Internet, and why it’s all the buzz in Silicon Valley.
Table of Contents
What Exactly is SearchGPT?
Remember those early days of the internet when search engines were nothing more than a list of blue links? You’d type in whatever you wanted to learn about, and you’d then have to click through one result after another with hopes that one of them provided the answer to your question. Well, all of that is about to feel like black and white TV. OpenAI, the company behind GPT-3, is preparing to take on Google with a new breed of search that doesn’t simply provide a list of sources—it actually knows stuff.
Imagine that you want to find out about music festivals in Boone, North Carolina, in August of 2024. Instead of giving you a long list of links, you would get a quick summary of the events, complete with descriptions and direct URLs back to the sources. You’re essentially having a smart assistant do that for you.
This is possible because OpenAI wedded these strict language models to fresh, up-to-the-minute web data. What does that mean? Well, searching now feels more like chatting with a friend than looking stuff up online. It’s also much faster and easier to use than the search engines we’re used to.
But storytelling is just a small fraction of what SearchGPT does well. It’s a tool for crafting customized graphics, explaining complicated solutions, and even helping plan—all without needing to leave the search engine window. All this, when juxtaposed, could make old-fashioned search engines irrelevant.
Why It’s a Problem for AI and Content Creators
AI-assisted search isn’t remotely new. Even Google has experimentally used AI for summarization, to say nothing of smaller firms like Perplexity. The big problem, of course, was that content creators and publishers were not too happy about it. The sentiments are relatable: if AI is good enough to summarize their content so well that users would never have to visit their websites, what would become of their web traffic? And how are those sites supposed to make money in an ad-driven world without traffic?
So far, OpenAI seems to have taken heed of these concerns. They are working directly with large publishers, such as The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. This partnership will place even more control over how the content is used back into the hands of the publishers, ensuring they receive due credit for it.
This is where SearchGPT comes in with a design that’s clear about the origin of information, with inline citations and easy links to original sources. This is good for users who would like to dig deeper while at the same time sending some nice, valued traffic back to the content developers. It’s a difficult balance, but it just may create a more viable way for AI-powered search to work.
Can OpenAI Keep SearchGPT Going?
SearchGPT has huge potential, but the price tag attached to it is equally enormous. OpenAI is set to lose up to $5 billion this year alone, a figure that would make even the largest tech company nervous. So, why is it so expensive?
Advanced AI models require immense computing power for their creation and operation; data centers are filled with specialized machines, which conduct very complex calculations day and night. Meanwhile, OpenAI, after only a year, is already doubling their staff—it’s been a bit like crazy hiring. All these things require money.
That throws up some very awkward questions. Can OpenAI continue to fund SearchGPT until it is profitable? The figures suggested for their current revenue from ChatGPT are between 100 and 200 million dollars per year – just a trifling sum, compared to what is being spent. Microsoft have been pitching in with the money matters of course, but do they do it indefinitely? The fact of Microsoft’s contribution to money matters means it believes hugely in the technology. But even they have limits.
This isn’t just about OpenAI’s financial situation. The high price tag for advanced AI might mean that only the biggest companies can afford to compete. If that happens, AI technology could end up in the hands of just a few powerful players, raising important questions about innovation, competition, and the future of the internet.
Google vs. SearchGPT: Battle for Search
It is interesting how Google has been the top search engine for years; we simply say we “Googled” it. But SearchGPT is perhaps the first real threat to that dominance in just as long. When OpenAI announced SearchGPT, Alphabet’s shares fell 3.6% in after-hours trading. To my mind, that surely gives a signal that investors are worried about new competition.
But this isn’t about who has the better search engine. This could be what would change the way all of us interact with information in general. Conversational in style, able to create custom content, and blend different sources seamlessly, it’s going to make traditional search engines feel archaic.
Google isn’t sitting idle, however. They’ve moved on to do further development of their own search with increasingly sophisticated AI features. Herein is the significant difference: unlike Google, which strives to enhance the already existing model, OpenAI started quite fresh and tried to reimagine what search would entail from the ground up.
The antitrust lawsuit against Google only complicates matters further. The U.S. Department of Justice is, in fact, accusing Google of hardware monopolization in the search sector. This legal pressure may put Google in its place in counterpunching new players, like SearchGPT, and thus give more space for OpenAI to grow.
But it isn’t just who won. This has sparked a competition that could lead to a burst of rapid innovation in how we find and use information on the net — benefiting all of us with search that is more intelligent, more personalized, and even more efficient.
The Future of Search: What’s Next for SearchGPT?
SearchGPT is still in its beta-testing phase, with only an approximate 10,000 people selected supposedly getting to interact with it. OpenAI will collect feedback and make some changes before it launches it more widely. Given the potential magnitude that this technology will have, this is a prudent way to take the approach.
OpenAI uses a mixture of direct content feeds and third-party partners to build their search index. There are contrasts with the old method of web scanning, however, which could therefore see a situation in which the search is more curated than complete.
The company has also given a few hints of exciting features that are coming down the line, meaning that, for instance, visual answers—perhaps even including AI-generated images and videos—could make search results so much more engaging and understandable, particularly for complex subjects. They’re also working on better local information and e-commerce integration.
As SearchGPT becomes an increasingly mature and capable product, further mixing it with the other products from OpenAI seems both likely and sensible. Imagine the combination of ChatGPT with real-time search; the lines between different kinds of AI assistants could start to blur, creating a more versatile and powerful kind of digital help.
Ethical Questions: The Responsibilities of AI-Powered Search
Great power comes with great responsibility, and SearchGPT brings up several important ethical considerations. How do we make sure that AI doesn’t spread misinforming or biased views? How is user privacy going to be protected if an actual understanding of the context and intention has to be made of what you are searching for through the search engine?
While there has been a clear amount of noise around OpenAI’s commitment to responsible AI development, its enactment will really prove vital. Transparency about how the search results are created and then ranked is crucial in keeping up users’ trust levels.
This question also raises the question of who gets control of that information. Assuming that SearchGPT becomes a way one acquires information, what exactly is given to a user and why is anyone’s guess. The power of AI in shaping public opinion and knowledge access is exciting and a bit troubling.
These are not merely theoretical ethical problems; they may help shape the actual regulatory environment, as well as public perceptions of and thus the success of SearchGPT itself.
The Bigger Picture: How SearchGPT Could Change Everything
It’s believed that the influence of SearchGPT is going to go way beyond search output. Here’s an idea of the ripple effects:
- Content Creation: As AI continues to improve in the summarizing and creation of information, work processes in some content creation will be altered. Perhaps more important, more original reporting and deeper analysis could potentially arise, things that AI can’t easily replicate.
- Digital Advertising: If people are spending less time clicking on websites, the whole digital advertising scheme could be thrown out of whack. Most likely, that would push the move more rapidly toward other ways of making money off online content.
- Education and Research: Smarter search tools could change how students and researchers gather information—opening access to knowledge but also raising questions about critical thinking skills.
- Jobs: Some jobs may be put at stake with AI taking over much of the work continuously, while at the same time new jobs where people would focus on working with AI and overseeing its use are expected to emerge.
- Digital Literacy: People would have to be in a position to acquire new skills in the process of using AI-driven tools in searching and critically evaluating whatever information they find.
What does the future hold for SearchGPT?
SearchGPT is still very nascent, and we have yet to understand what this technology will ultimately accomplish. Will it bring Google down, or will it simply become another complementary tool? But can OpenAI manage to fund its so-far-very-costly vision?
Conclusion
The only thing that’s very clear is that the way we interact with information on the internet is evolving at a blistering pace. SearchGPT is a massive step in the right direction, but it is likely just the first step into a new era in AI-assisted search and knowledge discovery.
As users we should expect more intelligent, efficient, and personalized ways of finding information. But also, and at the same time, we have to be on the lookout for some of the potentially negative sides and the ethical issues of the new generation AI systems.