ChatGPT Can Finally Browse The Web, But Free Users Have To Wait

ChatGPT has received a string of updates over the past few days, with the most recent one being its newfound ability to understand image and voice prompts, essentially turning it into an assistant that can engage with users in back-and-forth conversations. Now the company has announced yet another update that endows it with the ability to browse the web to generate results using up-to-date data.

As strange as it may sound, one of the world's most advanced and widely used chatbots lacked the ability to pull real-time results from the web until recently. In fact, its knowledge base was limited to data from before September 2021, which was over two years ago. The chatbot did briefly gain the ability to browse the web back in May 2023 with the launch of the Browse with Bing feature, which allowed ChatGPT to access the internet in order to answer questions that required up-to-date information.

ChatGPT can now browse the internet to provide you with current and authoritative information, complete with direct links to sources. It is no longer limited to data before September 2021. pic.twitter.com/pyj8a9HWkB

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) September 27, 2023

However, Browse with Bing was disabled shortly after release due to concerns about legal and copyright issues. Additionally, some users claimed that ChatGPT was generating biased and inaccurate information. ChatGPT's newfound ability to browse the web seems to be a refined version of the same product, albeit with several behind-the-scene improvements and bug fixes in place.

It is important to note that not everyone is eligible to use ChatGPT's browse the web feature, as it is locked behind a paywall. At the time of writing, OpenAI has restricted the feature to ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise users who pay a monthly fee to access a more advanced version of the chatbot. Is it worth paying for access? That depends on what you need. OpenAI describes several use cases for this updated version of its chatbot. 

For example, it can now provide users with up-to-the-minute information on a wide variety of topics, ranging across news, stock market updates, sports scores, weather forecasts, and more. Unlike traditional search engines that only present data and leave the responsibility of processing that data and drawing conclusions from it to the user, ChatGPT can present conclusions of its own and even make suggestions to chart out the best plan of action.

This ability could prove to be invaluable for professionals who work in fields like finance, research, and data analysis, where accurate and current information is critical. It can even help content creators and assist them in generating content that incorporates the latest trends and developments, thereby keeping content fresh and engaging for their audience. While it is too early to comment on how well it actually works in its new avatar, ChatGPT will almost certainly be able to provide users with more informative, helpful, and up-to-date responses.