OpenAI has announced that its AI assistant, ChatGPT, can now browse the internet for real-time information. Initially, when ChatGPT was launched, it was not aware of its own limitations, as its knowledge base was last updated in September 2021. However, with the new feature called Browse with Bing, ChatGPT can now provide current and authoritative information with direct links to sources. This browsing capability is especially beneficial for tasks requiring up-to-date information such as technical research, choosing a bike, or planning a vacation.
The Browse with Bing feature works within the regular Bing Chat window and notifies users when it is searching the web for information. Additionally, it provides citation links along with its answers. This functionality is currently available to Plus and Enterprise users, with plans to expand it to all users soon. To enable the feature, users can select Browse with Bing in the GPT-4 selector. This update follows another recent enhancement to ChatGPT, which introduced new multimodal functions.
It’s worth noting that ChatGPT had previously allowed web browsing for Plus subscribers; however, this capability was removed due to users exploiting it to bypass paywalls. With this latest update, ChatGPT aims to provide a more comprehensive and reliable experience by offering users access to the most recent and accurate information available on the internet.