OpenAI has announced that its ChatGPT-powered internet search feature will now be available to all users, a move said to be marking a significant challenge to Google’s search engine dominance. The feature, which was previously exclusive to paying subscribers, allows users to access real-time search results directly through ChatGPT.

Launched in late October, the upgrade enables the AI chatbot to deliver “fast, timely answers” with links to relevant web sources, a function traditionally handled by search engines like Google.

OpenAI’s move integrates search functionality directly into the ChatGPT experience, offering a cleaner interface similar to Google or Perplexity’s AI-powered search, but without the clutter of advertisements.

What does the feature aim

Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s chief product officer, shared the update in a YouTube video, informing that the feature would be rolled out globally across all platforms where ChatGPT is available. The new tool aims to provide users with up-to-date information from across the web, which was previously a limitation due to time-cutoff data on AI chatbots.

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“We’re bringing search to all logged-in free users of ChatGPT,” said Weil, emphasizing the global scale of the rollout. Users can activate the search feature either by default or manually, via a web search icon.

“We’re really just making the ChatGPT experience that you know better with up-to-date information from the web,” ChatGPT Search product lead Adam Fry said in the same video.

The integration of live search into ChatGPT increases the competition with Google and Microsoft, both of which have AI-powered search tools. With its push to expand its presence in the internet search market, OpenAI’s new feature will intensify scrutiny on its relationship with Microsoft, a key investor and competitor with its Bing search engine, according to information given in a news agency AFP report.

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