In a significant leap forward, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is now equipped with the ability to browse the internet, further enhancing its capabilities as a versatile AI language model, the company announced on Wednesday.
This development marks a major milestone in the ongoing evolution of AI-powered conversational agents that have created a frenzy in the professional world recently.
“ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021,” OpenAI said.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
To enable the new feature, users have to choose Browse with Bing in the selector under GPT-4.
With this new capability, ChatGPT can access a vast repository of information available on the internet. It can pull in real-time data, gather up-to-the-minute news, and fetch answers to an even wider array of questions. By connecting to the internet, ChatGPT gains access to the latest knowledge, making it an even more valuable tool for users seeking information and insights.
OpenAI said the decision to expand the scope of its information delivery beyond September 2021 data was spurred by feedback from users since the original launch of browsing in May. According to the company, other updates include following robots.txt and identifying user agents so sites can control how ChatGPT interacts with them.
“Browsing is particularly useful for tasks that require up-to-date information, such as helping you with technical research, trying to choose a bike, or planning a vacation,” the company said.
The ability to browse the internet expands ChatGPT’s utility in various domains. It can assist with research, provide current news updates, offer recommendations, and answer questions with the most recent and relevant information. This feature significantly broadens the scope of tasks that ChatGPT can handle effectively.
Since its launch, the chatbot has come under criticism for various reasons – one being its tendency to fabricate false information. Even OpenAI’s co-founder and CEO Sam Altman warned that ChatGPT cannot be trusted. This shortfall stems mainly from its inability to browse the web despite having incorporated Microsoft Bing.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is renowned for its natural language understanding and generation capabilities. Now, with internet browsing, it can provide users with contextually informed responses. When engaged in conversations, it can fetch recent data and cite sources, making interactions even more informative and engaging.
The company has continued to push the boundaries of AI capabilities. On Monday, it announced that ChatGPT has gained the ability to comprehend spoken language, respond with a synthetic voice, and process images, effectively allowing it to “see, hear, and speak.”
The new feature is believed to be in a push to gain an edge over others in the AI race already saturated by competitors, such as Google’s Bard and Anthropic, which recently got $4 billion in investment from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The addition of internet browsing to ChatGPT represents another step forward in achieving this goal. Its ability to browse the internet opens up new horizons, making it an even more indispensable resource for those seeking information, assistance, and intelligent conversations.
OpenAI said browsing is available to Plus and Enterprise users today, and will be expanded to all users soon.