OpenAI Makes a Bold Move! ChatGPT Search Engine Now Free

OpenAI Makes a Bold Move! ChatGPT Search Engine Now Free - Is Google in Trouble?

AIbase基地

Published in AI News · 6 minute read · Jul 16, 2025

On the occasion of ChatGPT's second birthday, OpenAI announced a brand-new AI-powered search experience, officially upgrading ChatGPT to an AI search engine, available for free. This update marks a significant milestone for ChatGPT in overcoming its shortfall in real-time information retrieval. Users can now receive web search results simultaneously while chatting with this globally advanced AI model, obtaining more accurate and comprehensive answers quickly.

This feature will be available to all users, with paid subscribers and those on the SearchGPT waiting list gaining immediate access to real-time web dialogue capabilities. Free users, enterprise users, and educational users will gain access in the coming weeks.

Users can access this new feature through the web version, mobile apps, and desktop applications. During conversations, ChatGPT will decide autonomously whether to use web search results based on user queries, and users can also actively trigger web searches.

Based on current user experiences, ChatGPT's search function is already quite robust, with components for weather, stock markets, maps, and more. Search results also include relevant web links for users to delve deeper into the information.

Users can also directly ask ChatGPT to summarize search results or follow up with further questions based on the results, integrating the search function seamlessly with ChatGPT.

OpenAI stated that to provide a better search experience, they have partnered with multiple news and data providers and designed new visual effects for categories such as weather, stocks, sports, news, and maps.

Additionally, ChatGPT's chat content will include links from sources like news articles and blog posts. Users can click the "Source" button below the search results to view a sidebar with references.

OpenAI emphasizes that the launch of ChatGPT's search function aims to integrate original, high-quality web content into human-computer dialogue, providing users with a new way to access information and offering content creators new opportunities to reach a broader audience. Notably, the ChatGPT search engine currently does not feature ads.

OpenAI has stated that there are no plans to place ads in ChatGPT. However, the operational costs of AI search are significantly higher than those of traditional search engines. It remains to be seen how OpenAI will achieve a balance between revenue and expenditure on such a massive scale of free searches.

It is certain that the frequency of free users accessing the latest search model will be somewhat restricted.

Following the release of ChatGPT's search function, OpenAI conducted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit, revealing more details. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mentioned that the company will release some excellent products later this year, but they will not be named GPT-5. He also hinted that the next major breakthrough would be intelligent agents and predicted that by 2025, AI would be capable of performing tasks independently, such as proactively sending messages to users.

OpenAI's Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil also revealed that the company will continue to reduce API costs and will add multimodal and tool usage functionalities to the O series models in the coming months.

Interestingly, as OpenAI announced the launch of ChatGPT's search function, Google also released its own AI search feature called Grounding, which allows users to obtain real-time, up-to-date information from Google Search while using Gemini. The battle cry for the AI search war has been sounded.

Details: https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-search/

Google Maps Finally Gets an Upgrade! Powered by Gemini, Unlocks Multiple Features, Users Say: This Is Real Smart Navigation

Google recently announced a significant upgrade to its map service. By integrating the Gemini generative AI model, Google Maps will not only provide smarter navigation services but also offer users a new way to discover places and interact. This update marks a new stage in Google’s competition with rivals like Apple Maps in the navigation app sector. With the support of artificial intelligence, Google Maps has added several practical features: the first being the smart recommendation function. Users can directly ask the map for suggestions in natural language, such as 'Places suitable for going out with friends at night.'

SAG-AFTRA and AI Startup Ethovox Reach Agreement to Protect Actors' Voice Rights

The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has recently signed an agreement with the AI company Ethovox to protect actors' rights in artificial intelligence voice models. The primary goal of this agreement is to establish a responsible framework for the use of AI in the entertainment industry, ensuring that actors' rights are upheld in the new technological era. Under this agreement, actors will receive upfront payments when recording their voices and will share in subsequent revenues. This means that actors will be compensated fairly when their voices are used in AI models.

Another New Favorite AI Image Generation Model! Recraft v3 Dominates Benchmark Tests, Beating Flux and Ideogram to Rank First

Recently, the image AI startup Recraft released its latest text-generating image model, Recraft v3, which has shown exceptional performance in independent testing, redefining the standards for image generation performance. According to Recraft, the v3 model excels in generating text within images, maintaining anatomical accuracy, understanding prompts, and creating high-quality visual content. Its biggest breakthrough is the ability to accurately present long segments of text in a single generation, while many other models struggle with more than a few words.

Dad Creates an AI Unicorn to Help Daughter Learn English! Buddy.ai Raises $11 Million in Funding

Entrepreneur Ivan Crewkov from Siberia discovered the immense potential of AI in education after a failed attempt in the smart speaker market, inspired by his daughter's experience learning English. His children's English education AI company Buddy.ai recently raised $11 million in seed funding, led by BITKRAFT Ventures, as its AI technology and business model focused on addressing children's English learning challenges gained recognition from investors. Crewkov's entrepreneurial journey has been quite dramatic.

Baido World 2024 is About to Open: Li Yanhong to Deliver an Hour-long Speech on AI

Baido's official Weibo announced on October 31 that Baido founder Li Yanhong will deliver a one-hour keynote speech at the Baido World 2024 conference, which will be held on November 12. The poster for this speech integrates key insights from Li Yanhong's recent appearances. On the application level, he focuses on the development directions of natural language processing, intelligent systems, and search technology. Regarding industry trends, Li Yanhong pointed out in a previous interview with the Harvard Business Review that despite the inevitability of bubbles, 1% of companies will still stand out in competition.

Artificial Intelligence Tops the List of Most Important Technologies for 2025, Followed by Cloud Computing and Robotics

The world's largest technical professional organization, IEEE, recently released a research report titled 'Technology Impact Beyond 2025'. This report surveyed 355 technology leaders from Brazil, China, India, the UK, and the US to explore future technology development trends. The survey revealed that 58% of respondents believe that smart technologies will be the most influential technology area in 2025, marking its second consecutive year at the top. Following closely are cloud computing (26%) and robotics (24%). Other noteworthy fields include extended reality.