For the first time in more than a quarter of a century, he Google search engine is showing signs of wear. According to Statcounter data, it has reduced its global market share from 91.38% in March to 86.99% this April, while Bing rose from 3.35% to 5.8% in the same period. It is not a seismic movement, let's say, but it is a possible change in trend that had not been seen since Google launched the search engine in 1998. The answer to this trend, although not the only one, could be artificial intelligence.
The Microsoft search engine has included it for just over a year and it is now that it seems to be allowing you to expand your market share. Google, for its part, has been experimenting with its Search Generative Experience, SGE, but it has not yet left its testing phase nor has it been released to the general public. Now a new competitor is presented to you by the main player in the field of generative AI, OpenAI.
As published last February by The Information, the Sam Altman It would compete directly with Google with a new web search service. It's unclear how it might be different from Bing searches, now Copilotwhich they already use GPT-4the language model behind the paid version of ChatGPTor those offered by this service that, unlike the free ChatGPT with GPT 3.5, it is connected to the Internet and can search the network for information to provide answers to the user. As expected after Microsoft's multi-million dollar investment in OpenAI of $10 billion, The OpenAI search engine will work with Bing to provide its answers, something that ChatGPT Plus already does.
In any case, new clues have emerged that support The Information's news and point to an imminent launch. A Reddit user located a new subdomain of chatgpt.comalready with an SSL security certificate, intended to host the OpenAI search engine: search.chatgpt.com. Currently, visiting this URL displays a “not found” message, but this could change soon.
Search (dot) ChatGPT (dot) com
May 9th.
— Pete (@nonmayorpete) May 2, 2024
This new search engine could be available starting next Thursday, May 9according to The Android Authority based on what AI podcast host Pete posted on his X account. The ChatGPT search engine would provide “AI-powered summaries and quick responses,” similar to how SGE does.
OpenAI has recently made some changes to its website and domains that also point in this direction. The corporate site It has changed its design to make it more similar to that of a search enginewhile ChatGPT itself is no longer hosted under the openai.com domain and now used from chatgpt.com. We will have to wait until next week to find out if Google has a new competitor and, if so, how it differs from the current search with Copilot or ChatGPT Plus.