OtherConsumer FacingVerified
Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 24, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.
OpenAI offers ChatGPT Search, a feature that gives all ChatGPT users the ability to retrieve up-to-date information from the web during conversations, launched in October 2024.
Details
ChatGPT Search uses AI to query the web in real time and synthesize results into conversational responses with cited sources. It is available to all ChatGPT users including those not logged in. The feature competes with traditional search engines by providing direct answers rather than a list of links. It was first launched for Plus and Team users in October 2024 before expanding to all users.
Products affected
ChatGPT (all tiers)OpenAI API
Sources & Evidence
News Article
Cite this record
Trace Foundation. (2026). OpenAI: OpenAI offers ChatGPT Search, a feature that gives all ChatGPT users the ability to retrieve up-to-date information from the web during conversations, launched in October 2024 (data as of 2026-07-22) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/7c1e8b81-9d21-4b81-bc9b-d7c819ae7458. Accessed October 13, 2026.
- Stable link
- https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/7c1e8b81-9d21-4b81-bc9b-d7c819ae7458
- Data as of
- July 22, 2026
- Last verified
- April 10, 2026
Other practices by OpenAI
Creative GenOpenAI offered Sora, an AI video generation tool that produced short video clips from text prompts or uploaded images, to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers starting December 2024; the product was discontinued in a phased shutdown, with the app and web closing on April 26, 2026 and the API scheduled to close on September 24, 2026. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, with reporting pointing to high compute costs and a strategic shift toward coding and enterprise products. A three-year licensing deal signed in December 2025 with The Walt Disney Company, under which Disney had committed a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, lapsed when the product shut down before the partnership terms were executed.OtherOpenAI deployed ChatGPT for US government and defense use through its OpenAI for Government platform, including a $200 million Pentagon contract and deployment on the DoD's GenAI.mil platform for approximately 3 million personnel.RecommendationOpenAI deployed contextual ads in ChatGPT starting February 9, 2026, showing sponsored content to free-tier users based on the topics of their current conversation.
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