OpenAI on Thursday announced a prototype of its own search engine, called SearchGPT, which aims to give users “fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.” The company said it eventually plans to integrate the tool, which is currently being alpha-tested with a small group of users, into its viral chatbot, ChatGPT. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Alphabet investors have been concerned that OpenAI could take market share from Google in search by giving consumers new ways to seek information online. With this prototype, OpenAI is testing the waters for doing just that, promising users the chance to “search in a more natural, intuitive way” and ask follow-up questions “just like you would in a conversation.” “We think there is room to make search much better than it is today,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote Thursday in a post on X. Alphabet shares were trading about 2.5% lower on Thursday, while the…
