
OpenAI has been reportedly developing its Google alternative, dubbed the ChatGPT search engine. According to a recent post on Y Combinator’s Hacker News community, the company has registered a new domain name, “search.chatgpt.com”, along with a security certificate, indicating an imminent launch of the ChatGPT-powered search engine. However, when the URL is accessed at present, it currently displays “Not found.”
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, was a former president of Y Combinator, a venture capital firm, and Y Combinator (YC) was one of the early investors in OpenAI.
While this could be nothing, it could also hint that OpenAI’s first Google search-like product is about to go official in the next few days. According to a post by Pete Huang, an AI influencer on X, the ChatGPT search engine could launch on May 9, and there are also several other reports pointing towards the plausible launch of the ChatGPT search engine in the next few days.
The ChatGPT search engine is speculated to be a product that combines the capabilities of a web search engine like Google with generative AI capabilities like ChatGPT. When a user asks a question or inputs a query, the ChatGPT search engine will likely offer a result that includes AI-generated content along relevant web pages, something similar to Perplexity AI.
This means a user will not only get an AI summary of all the relevant information available on the web but also include direct sources for those who need a bit more information than just a summary.
Google currently has a strong hold on the search engine business with almost 90 per cent market share, with Microsoft Bing being the second biggest search engine. Google has also been experimenting with AI features for a while now. Unlike a generative AI-powered chatbot like ChatGPT, with a search engine, OpenAI could incorporate ads, creating a new source of revenue for the company.