Latest news with #ChatGPTSearch
Tom's Guide
11 hours ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Apple is reportedly considering buying Perplexity AI in iPhone maker's biggest-ever acquisition
Apple is reportedly considering its most ambitious acquisition yet: AI startup Perplexity, whose AI-driven search engine and chatbot are among the leading ChatGPT alternatives with around 15 million users. According to a new Bloomberg report this week, Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, has been in talks with services SVP Eddy Cue and the company's top executives about a potential offer. Discussions are still in a very early stage, and Apple has yet to make a bid, but executives have met with Perplexity several times over the past few months, Bloomberg reports. Another possibility is a team-up with Perplexity, rather than an acquisition. The ultimate goal would be to integrate Perplexity's tech into an AI-based search engine or use it to make Siri smarter now that Apple's planned AI revamp for its assistant has been pushed into 2026. Similar to ChatGPT Search, Perplexity is a cross between a traditional search engine and an AI assistant. It uses large language models to comb the web to answer user queries in a conversational way, similar to interacting with a knowledgable assistant. It's also built with cross-platform accessibility in mind, so users can access its AI-powered search and assistant features on a wide range of devices. Acquiring Perplexity could be a strategic fallback for Apple if regulators force the company to end its partnership with Google. With Perplexity under its belt, Apple could accelerate the development of its own AI-powered search engine across the best iPhones, helping it close the gap with competitors like Google and Meta in the AI race. It couldn't come at a better time too. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Meta tried to scoop up Perplexity first earlier this year before moving ahead with Scale AI. At WWDC 2025, Apple was cagey about a concrete timeline for the full rollout of Apple Intelligence upgrades for Siri. It's quickly becoming clear that Apple need some outside help bringing its intended AI features to market, and Perplexity could fill that role. If a deal is reached, it'd be the largest in Apple's history. Perplexity is valued at around $14 billion, a figure that dwarfs Apple's most significant deal to date: buying Beats for $3 billion back in 2014. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
OpenAI just gave ChatGPT a search boost — and it's coming for Google
OpenAI just rolled out a major upgrade to ChatGPT Search, and it's a bold step closer toward dethroning traditional search engines. Now available, the new version of ChatGPT Search can interpret more complex questions, run multiple search queries at once and even handle visual inputs like screenshots. Combined with better memory and voice tools in GPT-4o, it's starting to look a lot like the kind of all-purpose search assistant Google's been trying to build, but in chatbot form. Feature ChatGPT Search (GPT-4o) Google AI Search / AI Overviews Query Style Conversational, multi-turn Traditional search input, evolving toward AI summaries Source Transparency Links shown under citations (but limited detail) Inline links with mixed source visibility Live Web Access Yes (with browsing enabled on) Yes, but not always clear when results are real-time Image Understanding Accepts images + screenshots for context-aware responses Limited visual interpretation (outside of Lens) Tone & Use Cases Personalized, assistant-style responses Factual, one-shot summaries for faster results Ad Integration None (currently) Google Ads + Shopping baked into some queries Memory & Context Can recall past prompts and preferences (in GPT-4o) No long-term memory, personalization only if enabled Primary Strength Deep context + synthesis across multiple domains Quick facts, maps, and shopping results ChatGPT Search and Google AI Overviews take different approaches to answering queries. Google AI Overviews pull from existing web content to generate summarized answers at the top of search results, often quoting or paraphrasing websites. In contrast, ChatGPT Search blends AI-generated responses with live web results from trusted sources, offering a more conversational experience. While Google favors brevity and directness, ChatGPT provides more context, personalization and reasoning. ChatGPT also allows follow-up questions in a chat format, making it feel more interactive. Google is still a traditional search engine with AI layered on top — ChatGPT is search reimagined through conversation. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. The upgraded ChatGPT Search now offers: So far, I've also noticed cleaner answers, fewer hallucinations and faster response time. As a power user with ChatGPT Plus, I've noticed a major shift because GPT-4o is enabled by default. With every prompt, responses feel sharper and more confident, with less of the filler or second-guessing I used to get. It's like the model knows what I'm asking before I finish typing, which is without a doubt the upgraded memory in ChatGPT Plus. ChatGPT Search is free for everyone, but Plus, Team and Pro users may experience even more of a streamlined search than those using the free tier. Google Search still dominates traditional queries, especially for quick facts, maps, shopping, or local recommendations. Environmentally, it uses less energy, which is why it might be the better option for short queries. But if you want any of the following, ChatGPT Search just got a lot more competitive: And while OpenAI says it's not trying to "kill Google," CEO Sam Altman admitted earlier this year that he doesn't use Google anymore. In this not-so-subtle statement, the CEO has made it clear that search habits are shifting. ChatGPT Search has become a legit search companion. More than a chatbot with search capabilities, the AI has the ability to understand what you're really asking and how best to answer. While Google is still the default for millions, this recent update from OpenAI shows that the tech giant is aiming higher and getting closer to Google. Do you use ChatGPT or Google for your searches? What is your deciding factor? Let us know in the comments!
CNBC
10-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
2. OpenAI
Founders: Sam Altman (CEO), Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Wojciech Zaremba, John Schulman, Elon MuskLaunched: 2015Headquarters: San FranciscoFunding: $63.9 billion (PitchBook)Valuation: $300 billionKey Technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, generative AI, machine learningIndustry: Enterprise technologyPrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 2 (No. 1 in 2024) OpenAI's ChatGPT continues to grow fast, whether the metric is users, revenue, valuation or intelligence. In a recent Ted Talk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the rate of user growth had doubled in just a few weeks, and that was building off an existing user count he estimated at 500 million people. The company's recent $40 billion fundraising round, valuing it at a $300 billion, was the most ever raised by a private tech company. The generative AI company has come a long way from the breakout moment of ChatGPT's debut in November 2022. At the time of the historic April fundraising announcement, Altman noted in an X post that the company had added one million users in the five days after the chatbot's 2022 launch. Less than three years later, it is adding as many as one million users per hour. "People hear about it through word of mouth. They see the utility of it. They see their friends using it," OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said in a February interview with CNBC. "There's an overall effect of people really wanting these tools, and seeing that these tools are really valuable," he added. The growth has been rewarded with increased investor bets on OpenAI's revenue and profit potential, with recent reports indicating revenue may reach $13 billion this year, and reach over $100 billion by 2029. The company, which is still losing money according to 2024 financials, has put the revenue goal for this year closer to $11 billion, with CFO Sarah Friar telling CNBC in February that was within "the realm of possibility." That would still be close to three times last year's revenue level. On Monday, the company announced that it had hit $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, a figure including sales from consumer products, ChatGPT business products and its application programming interface, or API. As a product, ChatGPT continues to push out new R&D breakthroughs, each one promising to disrupt multiple sectors of the economy and types of work. ChatGPT Search was unveiled in late 2024, and early this year, OpenAI launched Operator, an "agentic" AI assistant that can plan vacations, make dinner reservations, and order groceries, among other tasks. While its consumer-facing product growth gets the most attention, its enterprise service just reached the three-million user mark. The company is also beginning to put more of its cash to work by way of acquisitions, buying coding startup Windsurf, which was its biggest acquisition ever — until it bought iPhone designer Jony Ive's device startup for $6.4 billion in May. The biggest deal of all is Stargate, the $500 billion AI investment consortium that also includes OpenAI investor Softbank, as well as Oracle, and was first announced with President Trump in January. That was recently expanded on a global basis, with OpenAI and Oracle, alongside Nvidia and Cisco, announcing during Trump's trip to the Middle East that a Stargate project will be based in the United Arab Emirates. The past year has not been without challenges, most notable among them the emergence of China's DeepSeek, which continues to innovate with its large language models. While OpenAI faces healthy competition within the U.S. AI sector, from fellow Disruptor 50 company Anthropic, to Meta's open-source models and Google Gemini, DeepSeek, whose models are supposedly far less expensive and resource intensive, poses existential questions about the massive bets being placed on AI by U.S. firms, as well as questions about U.S. supremacy in the global AI race. OpenAI also faces a battle for control of the company and questions about its conversion from a nonprofit to for-profit entity, this time related to a hostile takeover bid from Elon Musk, which was quickly rejected by the board. In May, facing internal and external pressure, OpenAI announced that its nonprofit would retain control of the company even as it restructures into a public benefit corporation. Altman, who said in a blog post about the structural changes that trillions of dollars will be needed to serve its mission, dismissed the threat Musk poses to the future of the company. "You all are obsessed with Elon, that's your job — like, more power to you. But we are here to think about our mission and figure out how to enable that. And that mission has not changed," Altman wrote.
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Google gets smart search capabilities: Know about 5 must-try AI search features
This year's Google I/O was big on AI announcements, from new Gemini AI models, text-to-video tools, to new AI features across apps and services. Google has significantly upgraded itself in the space of AI, giving tough competition to other tech giants, including OpenAI and Microsoft. With major AI integration to Google services, the company has upgraded the Google Search capabilities, giving stiff competition to OpenAI's hyped ChatGPT Search platform. At the event, Google announced some new AI-powered features which make web search smarter, interactive, and personalised for users. Therefore, if you rely on Google Search for smaller queries, shopping, to deep research, know how these new features make search interaction seamless. Also read: Google I/O 2025: AI Mode rolls out in Search, know how it will benefit users Also read: Google I/O 2025: Gemini Live with camera now free for everyone, Veo 3 for AI Ultra and other reveals Also read: Google renames Find My Device to Find Hub: What's new, and why Android trackers still need work Mobile Finder: Google Pixel 9A LATEST specs, features, and price
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Google's AI Mode reportedly replacing iconic 'I'm feeling lucky' button
It might be time to say your goodbyes to the iconic 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button below the Google Search bar. In its place will be AI Mode, a feature that's been quietly rolling out to users this week, according to The Verge. It's part of Google's ongoing push to merge its core search engine with Gemini, its flagship AI model. First announced in March, AI Mode started as an experimental opt-in via Google Labs. Earlier this May, it became available to all Labs users. Now it's reportedly breaking out onto the main stage: the Google homepage. Giving AI Mode such prominent real estate suggests Google is accelerating its vision for what search should become. That's bad news if you're nostalgic for the playful nature of 'I'm Feeling Lucky," which has appeared on Google's homepage since its launch. The button, which once whisked users to the top search result (or something randomly delightful), is potentially being nudged out for good in favor of something Google sees as far more ambitious. SEE ALSO: 89 million Steam accounts reportedly leaked. Change your password now. It's worth noting: AI Mode is not the same thing as AI Overviews. The latter summarizes search results using generative AI. AI Mode goes a step further. Instead, it lets Gemini do the searching for you, and then you can dive deeper with follow-up questions. Think of it as Google's version of ChatGPT Search, OpenAI's own attempt to reimagine the search engine as a conversational assistant. Google almost never touches its homepage. But the timing here isn't random. I/O kicks off next week on May 20, and AI will be the star of the show. Meanwhile, last week in court, an Apple executive casually dropped a bombshell: for the first time ever, Google searches on Safari declined last month. That adds a layer of urgency to Google's rollout.
