In the past, OpenAI has stated that its ChatGPT chatbot could only provide answers to questions provided those answers don"t fall after September 2021. Today, that has changed thanks to ChatGPT adding support for accessing the internet for answers to questions, via Microsoft"s Bing search engine.
In a series of X (formerly Twitter) posts, OpenAI stated:
Since the original launch of browsing in May, we received useful feedback. 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.
Browsing is available to Plus and Enterprise users today, and we’ll expand to all users soon. To enable, choose Browse with Bing in the selector under GPT-4.
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. pic.twitter.com/pyj8a9HWkB
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 27, 2023
Of course, using Bing as the search engine of choice for ChatGPT is no accident. Microsoft"s own Bing Chat chatbot uses OpenAI"s GPT-4 as part of its own. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into OpenAI, and as a result, it gets access to its services even before OpenAI adds them to its own services.
Indeed, the new Paint app update for Windows 10 and 11 now includes an AI-based image generator feature called Cocreator that uses OpenAI"s own DALL-E AI art maker.
OpenAI has been quite busy on its own lately. Earlier this month, it announced DALL-E 3, a new version of its AI image creator that can access ChatGPT to help it create digital artwork.
A few days ago, OpenAI announced new features to its ChatGPT mobile apps for iOS and Android that will allow users to chat with the chatbot with their voice. It can also take a picture and have ChatGPT analyze it.