Meta's AI Search Engine Coming?

Meta is reportedly developing its own AI-powered search engine, potentially lessening its reliance on Google and Microsoft.

This search tool aims to generate AI-driven summaries of current events, integrating with Meta’s chatbot for real-time updates across Facebook and Instagram. Currently, these platforms rely on Google and Bing for news and event responses.

Meta’s previous search attempts haven’t matched Google’s dominance, but with more AI search engines like Perplexity emerging, the timing feels right. We’re seeing a wave of smaller, AI-based search engines gaining traction, which recalls the early days of online search in the '90s and 2000s, when multiple small search tools existed alongside the major players.

Reports indicate that Meta’s web crawler has been active for months, gathering information for an internal database. According to sources, Meta’s team has been working for about eight months on this data project, which may eventually challenge Google Maps by building up its location data. Bloomberg also recently highlighted Apple’s work on its own search tools as another potential competitor for Google.

With millions of users on Facebook and Meta’s Llama AI models, adding real-time search capabilities into Meta’s AI framework could be a game-changer. While technically complex, Meta’s experience in web crawling and data integration from advertising pixels makes this a logical step.

The competitive pressure on Google is real, especially as AI reshapes search. Many users, myself included, have been turning more to AI tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity over traditional Google search. Meta’s new multi-year deal with Reuters to use real-time news content is also a major advantage for providing accurate updates in its chatbot.

Earlier in July, OpenAI has launched a prototype called SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine with real-time access to information across the internet. This prototype aims to enhance the search experience by combining conversational AI capabilities with up-to-date online data, ensuring users get relevant results with clear source attributions.

As the search field heats up, it’s exciting to see if Meta’s move into AI-powered search will succeed in shaking up the search engine landscape.

Sources: https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/28/24282017/meta-ai-powered-search-engine-report