According to The Information, OpenAI is focusing on two markets that Google has long dominated: web browsing and search.
According to individuals familiar with the topic, the AI startup is in the early phases of exploring developing a web browser that will interact with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
According to the Thursday article, OpenAI has also approached travel, retail, real estate, and food websites about developing a search tool that would allow visitors to connect with their sites in the same conversational manner that a user would interact with ChatGPT.
According to a person who has seen the tool’s prototype, the new product is known as NLWeb or Natural Language Web.
Google and OpenAI spokespeople did not reply to requests for comment.
Creating a web browser and a search tool would be a big step into two industries where Google now holds a comfortable market domination.
According to Statista, a data analytics organization, Google Chrome accounted for over 65% of the global web browser market share in August. As of January, Google Search accounts for over 82% of the global search engine market. Google’s search division is huge, accounting for $49.4 billion in revenue in the three months ended September 30 – more than half of the company’s total.
Google is also increasing its focus on artificial intelligence for search. Last month, the business said that it was introducing a series of changes to Search, beginning with mobile. A whole new Search experience employs AI to structure the page’s layout, categorizing results and putting videos, forum links, and other widgets to the top.
According to multiple sources, OpenAI is still a long way from deploying a browser. However, in an indication of the company’s interest in developing such a product, OpenAI hired two senior Google Chrome developers this year, including Ben Goodger, a founding member of the Chrome team.
With the debut of ChatGPT search in October, OpenAI established ChatGPT as a competitor to search engines. The capability enables the chatbot to deliver real-time answers about topics such as the weather or the stock market.
Google’s dominance in search and web browsing is undeniable, but it may be threatened by the Justice Department’s attempt this week to force a sale of Chrome. In August, a judge determined that Google has an illegal monopoly on the advertising and search industries.
Google stated that it would challenge any verdict in the case and that the DOJ is pursuing a “radical agenda.”