ChatGPT can finally get up-to-date answers from the internet – here’s how
OpenAI isn’t slowing down with ChatGPT’s development: just a few days after the AI chatbot added support for photo prompts and voice conversations, ChatGPT can now once again search the web and return answers that are completely up to date.
“ChatGPT can now surf the web to provide you with timely and authoritative information, complete with direct links to resources,” says the OpenAI message on X. “It is no longer limited to data from before September 2021.”
What that post doesn’t mention is that this is the same functionality that ChatGPT briefly had early this year, before being shut down in July: users used the feature to bypass paywalls and access paid content for free. As far as we can tell from our testing, OpenAI has now closed that particular gap.
As before, ChatGPT uses Bing to search the web – no surprise considering how closely Microsoft and OpenAI have worked together in recent years. OpenAI suggests the feature is best used for “tasks that require up-to-date information,” such as planning a vacation or doing technical research.
How it works
Currently, you need to be a ChatGPT Plus subscriber to give the bot access to the internet, which will run you $20/£16 per month. Enterprise users will also get the feature right away, with access for everyone else coming “soon” says Open AI.
Once you’re logged into ChatGPT on the web, you’ll need to select the GPT-4 engine and then choose ‘Browse with Bing’ from the menu that appears below. You can then start your conversation, and the bot will use information from the internet in addition to the data it has access to through its regular training.
We got ChatGPT to tell us when the iPhone 15 launched, and it even linked back to a reputable tech website with more information (although it wasn’t TechRadar, unfortunately). That’s an example of how the AI assistant now knows everything that happens, as long as it’s on the internet.
The feature is still labeled as being in beta, so expect more refinements and improvements in the future. It’s also only as good as Bing’s search results, so anything the search engine isn’t sure about – like tonight’s football matches in Britain – might direct you to a relevant website instead of seeing the answers.