OpenAI said on Thursday it is selectively rolling out SearchGPT, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine with real time access to the information from the internet.
This move positions the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) startup directly against Google, the dominant search engine, as well as newer services like the search-focused AI chatbot Perplexity.
Shares of Google's parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), extended a decline to end of over 3% lower after OpenAI's announcement.
OpenAI said it has opened sign-ups for the new tool, which is currently in the prototype stage and is being tested with a small group of users and publishers.
"While this prototype is temporary, we plan to integrate the best of these features directly into ChatGPT in the future," OpenAI said in a blog post, without giving more details or a timeline.
SearchGPT will provide summarized search results with source links in response to user queries. They will also be able to ask follow-up questions and receive contextual responses.
The company will also give publishers access to tools for managing how they appear in SearchGPT results.
The SearchGPT tool signals a closer collaboration between publishers and OpenAI, following content licensing agreements with major organizations like Associated Press, News Corp, and Axel Springer.
Major search engines have been trying to integrate AI into search since ChatGPT first launched in November 2022. Microsoft, through its early investment, adopted OpenAI technology for its Bing search engine, while Google rolled out AI-powered summaries for the wider public at its developer conference in May.
In June, Google Search held a 91.1% market share, down from 92.6% a year earlier, primarily due to increased usage of Microsoft Bing, according to web analytics firm Statcounter.
Google did not respond to a Reuters query on the potential impact of SearchGPT on its business.
Reuters had earlier reported on OpenAI's plans around AI search in May.
