OpenAI has announced that it’s testing SearchGPT, a prototype for a new search feature that harnesses the power of AI models to process information available on the web in real-time. This allows it to answer user queries directly, providing the sources of information. It also enables users to discuss the answer and add more details as needed.

The company believes that the current method of search engines like Google and Bing is complex, requiring users to spend a lot of time and effort to find the information they need. SearchGPT, on the other hand, provides a direct answer along with links to the sources.

This is similar to what Copilot does, providing answers to any question with links to sources. Thus, it seems to be a more direct competitor to Copilot rather than Google in terms of its operation. However, it could attract many Google users who prefer the convenience and speed of getting an answer directly, along with links for verification.

OpenAI is working with a number of publishers to include links to their sites in the answers. It’s possible that they will only display links to a limited number of publishers, excluding smaller websites, companies, and blogs that contain a significant amount of important information.

This could limit the sources of information to a select group of publishers, preventing users from getting a wide range of opinions and perspectives. In exchange for convenience and speed, users may have to rely solely on the information provided by the listed sources without knowing what exists beyond them.

Meanwhile, Google and Bing provide users with links to websites that discuss the information they are looking for. This makes them, to a large extent, less biased. Even if they are biased, their preferred results will appear on the first pages, but they are unlikely to completely exclude links from small publishers and personal blogs.

Nevertheless, bias and limited sources may not be sufficient reasons for users to prefer traditional search engines. The younger generation has become accustomed to biased algorithms in various social media platforms and may be more accepting of them in new search engines like SearchGPT.

OpenAI is testing this feature with a limited number of users to gather their feedback and leverage their experience to improve it before releasing it to the public and integrating it into ChatGPT.