Before OpenAI launched its long-anticipated ChatGPT search, there was SearchGPT, a temporary prototype designed to help users find quick responses to queries in a conversational tone.
Research experts and analysts, including former Google engineer Arvind Jain, warned that AI-powered search engines could redefine how people interact with the internet. He indicated that Google has bigger fish to fry with the emergence of these tools than the antitrust ruling that deemed its monopoly in the search landscape illegal.
In May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed doubts about ChatGPT search being Google's killer, even though he revealed that he'd become less dependent on Google with a bias for ChatGPT. "I don't do Google searches anymore," he added.
Altman indicated that ChatGPT would "probably not" replace Google, while referring to the software maker as a “ferocious competitor” with "a very strong AI team, a lot of infrastructure, a very well-protected business, and they’re making great progress putting AI into their search."
However, the executive has seemingly changed his tone. While recently speaking to Y Combinator, Altman claimed that ChatGPT had evolved beyond just a Google replacement (via Search Engine Journal).
According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman:
"For a long time ChatGPT was like a Google replacement… it still felt like a more advanced version of search.”
The executive indicated that the tool had evolved from being just a chatbot and can now handle a variety of complex tasks:
"It’s like a very junior employee that can work on something for like a short period of time.”
Ads might be part of ChatGPT's future
It seems more companies are increasingly hell-bent on pumping ads onto their platforms, much like Google's recent campaign against ad blockers that prompted it to intentionally slow down and prevent playback on YouTube videos for users with the extensions installed on their devices.
Towards the end of last year, Sam Altman admitted that OpenAI would only bring ads to ChatGPT as a last resort.
I'm not saying OpenAI would never consider ads, but I don't like them in general, and I think that 'ads-plus-AI' is sort of uniquely unsettling to me.
OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman
More recently, the company has been reported to be undergoing tough economic times, chasing the AI hype while burning through wads of cash in the process,
Interestingly, Sam Altman recently floated the idea of ChatGPT getting ads while speaking to Andrew Mayne on The OpenAI podcast (via PC Gamer).
According to Altman:
"We haven't done any advertising product yet. I kind of...I mean, I'm not totally against it. I can point to areas where I like ads. I think ads on Instagram, kinda cool. I bought a bunch of stuff from them. But I am, like, I think it'd be very hard to…I mean, take a lot of care to get right."
The executive further explained that the whole thing boils down to the trust people have in ChatGPT. Shockingly, he indicated that people shouldn't trust AI-powered technology that much because it tends to hallucinate.
