OpenAI plans to announce Google search competitor

Just as Google prepares for its I/O events on Tuesday 14th of May, OpenAI is planning to steal the thunder as it sets to unveil its AI-powered search tool today, Monday 13th of May, upping the ante in its rivalry with search giant Google.

According to a report from Bloomberg and information gathered, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has partnered with Perplexity, a well-funded AI search firm to develop a search engine that will compete with Alphabet's Google, of which OpenAI has refused to comment.

As a startup behind this Innovation, Perplexity, owned by a former OpenAI researcher, has gained traction by providing an AI-native search interface that shows citations in results and images, as well as text in its responses. It has 10 million monthly active users and is valued at $1 billion.

Although claimed as an extension of the flagship ChatGPT product, this tool will enable ChatGPT to pull in direct information from the Web and include citations, which could cover up for the AI's shortcomings in providing accurate and real-time information from the Web.

While OpenAI has gotten the attention of over 180 million users, it might still be too early to judge it as worthy of competing with the all-time search engine created by Google.