Tech giant Meta is reportedly looking at creating its own AI-powered search engine in a bid to reduce its reliance on existing search products, including Google and Microsoft’s Bing.
The new search engine will create conversational AI-generated summaries of recent information and current events and deliver them to users through Meta’s AI chatbot, according to an Oct. 28 report from The Information, which cited an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
According to the source, a dedicated engineering team at Meta has been working on the project for the last eight months to build out a database of relevant information for the new search engine to utilize.
Meta’s AI chatbot — which is integrated with the firm’s suite of social media apps, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — currently depends on Google and Bing search engines to provide answers to user questions.
Meta AI chatbot being used to answer user questions. Source: Meta
Meta’s move to launch a proprietary search engine follows similar moves from several other large AI players, including Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
In July, OpenAI unveiled a search engine prototype called “SearchGPT” with plans to integrate the feature directly into its chatbot ChatGPT in the future.
Similarly, an Oct. 2 report from Bloomberg shared that Apple had confirmed it had made necessary steps to look at replacing some elements of Google search functionality with its own AI tools.
More recently, Meta announced a multiyear partnership with news agency Reuters to integrate AI-powered chat functions into its platforms on Oct. 25, its first foray into news content in several years.
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Meta’s shift toward integrating news with its AI chatbot diverges from its efforts to minimize news and political content across its main platforms.
Following controversies in recent years, including Meta’s discontinuation of its “News Tab” and reduced emphasis on political news post-2020, the tech giant had largely distanced itself from news-focused features.
However, the new AI deal hints at a potential return to news in a more controlled capacity, targeting users who seek news actively rather than passively receiving it in their feeds.
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