What Did OpenAI Do This Week?

SEARCHGPT IS HERE [INSERT TUMBLEWEED NOISE HERE]

OpenAI has finally launched SearchGPT, a product it hopes will be a ‘Google Killer’. A lot of tech folks aren’t sure, but here’s what 10,000 people will trial before the rest of us:

A natural progression for anyone who has been busy slurping up the internet, OpenAI’s simple search UX seems to be everything Perplexity and Google Overviews are or want to be, while attempting to disrupt the search ecosystem. A gargantuan ‘if’ right now, but there’s potential for a better user experience against the current search experience dominated by Google, which made $48.5 billion last quarter from search alone.

SearchGPT will leverage GPT-4’s advanced natural language processing to summarize information, saving users significant time, especially in research-intensive industries such as legal, academic, and financial sectors, where quickly digesting large volumes of information is crucial. SearchGPT could also help mitigate misinformation if the correct rules are baked in and properly tested and overseen. Perhaps over time, it can help people correct their own biases. A deeper analysis of the final features to assess competitors’ strengths and weaknesses is obviously required.

Accuracy will be the big issue here. OpenAI knows this needs to go well and avoid the Google Overviews backlash. Hence the ‘prototype’ tag and the initial release to only 10,000 users. Although the demo already had an error and hallucinated, OpenAI can privately gather valuable feedback and make iterative improvements, despite leaks starting. It’s a smart mitigation move—no large-scale failures are likely, though challenges and risks lie ahead. Verifying and validating the accuracy of its search outputs will be primary to the tool’s success. Scalability is another issue; AI costs money, and as The Information rightly points out, OpenAI will need another cash injection soon. Any lag or downtime won’t be acceptable with a launch of this nature, so the tech needs to be fully functional.

While Google’s stock dropped 3.2% on the news, unseating Google from search won’t be easy. Google’s dominance is deeply rooted in users’ psyches and desktops due to its extensive ecosystem of services like Gmail, Google Drive, and YouTube. Convincing users who may already be using Gemini will take time and be costly. Convenience is king, and habits are hard to break. OpenAI will need to drive word of mouth if the company doesn’t want to spend billions attracting customers. Perhaps the bigger question is how regulatory bodies such as the FTC will respond. Data privacy and competition will need to be navigated. While the move could take pressure off Google, it may add to woes for OpenAI. However, proactive engagement with regulators is unlikely. The race is still who gets to superintelligence first; ethics and best practices are likely distant thoughts until knuckles or balance sheets get whacked.

Subscribe now to find out what all this means for you, and your business along with +20 other stories and announcements below ⬇
Need a discount? Sign up to TBD+ and you’ll get 50% off FOR LIFE!