ChatGPT to offer buying advice in future

The AI chatbot ChatGPT is trying its hand as a buying advisor, thereby attacking Google’s business.

The developer, OpenAI, demonstrated the new function with a search query: “What is the best espresso machine for under 200 dollars that comes close to the taste of coffee in Italy?” ChatGPT then suggested several models with photos, prices and links to retailers.

OpenAI emphasised that the selection of answers was not based on paid ad placement. Shopping search is a lucrative business for Google. Companies can pay to have their products displayed prominently. OpenAI only worked with ‘partners’ to keep prices up to date, the responsible manager Adam Fry told the tech blog ‘The Verge’. OpenAI did not provide any information about who these partners are.

For everyone – but not for everything at first

The shopping help is initially limited to a few product categories: electronics, fashion, cosmetics and household goods. If you are interested in an item, you can ask ChatGPT further questions about it. OpenAI wants to make the function available to all around 500 million users quickly. The AI company could compete not only with Google, but also with specialised buying advice sites.

Beyond shopping, OpenAI improved the ChatGPT search with suggestions for automatically completing sentences and displaying queries that are currently trending.