However, Reuters sources said the launch date of OpenAI's internet search engine could change. Previously, Bloomberg and The Information reported that OpenAI was developing a product to compete with Google and search startup Perplexity.

On May 10, OpenAI announced on X that it would be live-streaming an event on May 13 to “showcase some updates to ChatGPT and GPT-4.” CEO Sam Altman later posted on X, denying any plans to launch GPT-5 or a search engine. “However, we’ve been working on some new things that people might like. To me, it’s like magic,” Altman wrote.

CdxeMWAEPWz4VQsvg5txaZ.jpg
ChatGPT is a formidable competitor to Google. Photo: Tom's Guide

Next week, Google will kick off its annual I/O developer event, where it is expected to unveil a slew of AI-related products.

OpenAI's search product is an extension of ChatGPT and allows ChatGPT to pull information directly from the web, including citations, according to Bloomberg. The ChatGPT chatbot uses advanced AI models to generate human-like responses to text prompts.

Observers have long touted ChatGPT as an alternative to online information gathering, though it struggles to provide accurate, real-time information from the web. OpenAI is integrated with Microsoft's Bing for paid subscriptions, while Google has also announced AI-generated features for its search engine.

Perplexity, a startup founded by a former OpenAI researcher, has 10 million monthly active users, according to a January blog post. At the time, OpenAI's ChatGPT was the fastest app to reach 100 million monthly active users.

OpenAI had been working on bringing updates to ChatGPT but “retired the plugin” in April.

(According to Reuters)