OpenAI Expands ChatGPT's Capabilities to Surf the Web

The artificial intelligence startup revealed that its latest browsing feature comes with the capability for websites to control ChatGPT's interactions with them. In their own words, "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," as stated in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

In addition to this enhancement, the startup recently unveiled a significant update that empowers ChatGPT to engage in voice conversations with users and utilize images, thereby bringing it closer in functionality to popular AI assistants like Apple's Siri.

OpenAI had previously experimented with a feature allowing users to access real-time information through the Bing search engine within its premium ChatGPT Plus offering. However, due to concerns about potential paywall circumvention, this feature was later disabled.

ChatGPT experienced unprecedented growth earlier this year, becoming the fastest-growing consumer application in history, with 100 million monthly active users in January. It was subsequently overtaken by Meta's Threads app. This remarkable rise has piqued investor interest in OpenAI, with reports emerging on Tuesday that the startup is in discussions with shareholders regarding the possible sale of existing shares at a significantly higher valuation than just a few months ago.

In response to promotional posts on X, several users sought clarification on what qualifies as "authoritative" information. ChatGPT's initial launch generated substantial media coverage and social media discussions about the AI's apparent political biases, which appeared to align with those prevalent in Silicon Valley and were challenging to circumvent.

Microsoft Bing has been operating its own large language model since February, asserting its superiority over ChatGPT. The AI, initially known for its unusual clingy behavior toward users, has been offering web browsing capabilities for several months.

OpenAI also recently revealed that ChatGPT will be capable of analyzing images and conducting audio conversations in the near future. The company introduced a new iteration of its image generation AI, Dall-E 3, which reportedly incorporates some of ChatGPT's language processing and conversation algorithms.

On a related note, the CIA's Open Source Enterprise division disclosed on Wednesday that it is developing a ChatGPT clone with the capacity to deliver information sourced from open intelligence streams on the active internet. Unlike OpenAI's updated model, Langley's bot will be restricted to use by the 18 agencies comprising the US espionage apparatus.

While OpenAI asserts that it avoids "high-risk" government or military contracts, a recent $13 billion investment by Microsoft has granted the tech giant—and its clients within the intelligence community—access to some of OpenAI's most coveted AI tools.