ChatGPT's AI search engine is now available without requiring registration
ChatGPT now lets you use its search engine without having to register on its platform. With this move, OpenAI seeks to democratize access to its search engine.
This news comes from Engadget, where they explain that after testing it first with paying users and then with free accounts, it's time to make it public. The search engine maintains all its core functionality, including the ability to provide updated answers with links to the sources consulted.
We remember that the ChatGPT search engine was already announced last December, introducing an interesting variant in the world of online search by acting more like a personal assistant than a traditional search engine: it finds information relevant to the user's query and presents it in a clear and easy-to-understand way.
The system automatically activates web search when it detects you need updated information, though it also includes a button below the text bar for manual searches. Google has also expressed interest in integrating AI features into its search engine, though we don’t yet know when those will arrive.
OpenAI is already moving fast, and we’re only just beginning 2025. Last week, the company launched a new AI model called Deep Research, a feature aimed at scientific researchers and journalists that attempts to put the chatbot on a par with competitors like Perplexity, which is by far the most suitable alternative for those professions.
Will ChatGPT become a real alternative to Google? It’s hard to say, at least at this point. These types of tech projects often take time to flourish; this wouldn’t be the first (or last) time we’ve seen a large group of users rush to try something new (as happened with DeepSeek), only to abandon it shortly after.
