Want smarter insights in your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletters to get only what matters to enterprise AI, data, and security leaders. Subscribe Now
Rumors that OpenAI is set to release a gen AI-powered web browser to rival Alphabet‘s Google Chrome have amped up excitement about the future of search and how AI will fundamentally change how we browse the web.
In this seeming next phase of the internet, search engines won’t just point to information; intelligent agents will find it for us and even act on it.
“This isn’t just about better answers; it’s about redefining the interface between humans and the web,” Ja-Naé Duane, a Brown University faculty member and MIT CISR research fellow, told VentureBeat. “By embedding a conversational, task-completing AI into the browser itself, OpenAI is signaling the end of search as we know it.”
What exactly is gen AI-powered search?
Gen AI-powered search is fundamentally different from traditional search, as it not only fetches the most relevant links in response to a query, but summarizes and directly links to them. Users won’t have to scroll URLs, websites or databases to get the information they need. For enterprises, this means that SEO may eventually become obsolete, so they must fundamentally rethink their online strategy.
The AI Impact Series Returns to San Francisco - August 5 The next phase of AI is here - are you ready? Join leaders from Block, GSK, and SAP for an exclusive look at how autonomous agents are reshaping enterprise workflows - from real-time decision-making to end-to-end automation. Secure your spot now - space is limited: https://bit.ly/3GuuPLF
Presumably, OpenAI’s goal is to keep users inside GPT-like interfaces as long as possible. A dedicated browser would allow the company to directly integrate products such as Operator, which handles repetitive browser tasks.
The latter, ultimately, is the future of AI-powered search, experts say: Agents that fetch information for users and get to know their habits, interests and goals.
“We’re moving into an era where the browser doesn’t just respond, it anticipates,” said Duane. “The future of search is not about finding, it’s about fulfilling.”
... continue reading