OpenAI unveils new "deep research" tool and closes partnership with Softbank
ChatGPT will now be able to synthesize online information to produce accurate and comprehensive reports in a matter of minutes and hours.
OpenAI
U.S. tech giant OpenAI unveiled a new "deep research" tool for ChatGPT in Tokyo on Monday, as Chinese chatbot DeepSeek continues to gain momentum in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.
"'Deep Research' is OpenAI's next agent that can work for you independently -- you give it a prompt and ChatGPT searches, analyzes and synthesizes hundreds of online sources to produce a full research analyst-level report," OpenAI said in a statement.
A week earlier, OpenAI launched a new system enabling its bot to perform Internet searches on demand. The latest tool takes it a step further, as Altman explains, by collating information from various online sources to generate a comprehensive report for users.
"It can handle complex research tasks that would typically take a person anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 days," said Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s product manager, at the Washington, D.C., event. In comparison, Deep Research can complete those tasks in just 5-30 minutes, depending on their complexity, according to its managers.
Technology
The launch of DeepSeek caused the worst fall in Nvidia's history: -$589 billion in market value
Joaquín Núñez
OpenAi vs. DeepSeek
DeepSeek's entry into the AI world stirred up Silicon Valley, with claims that it could operate at a high level while keeping costs low.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which helped ignite the global AI revolution in 2022, said its new tool "accomplishes in just minutes what would take a human many hours."
In a live-streamed announcement, OpenAI researchers demonstrated how the tool can synthesize web research to recommend ski equipment for a trip to Japan.
Sam Altman, the director of OpenAI, is visiting Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday along with Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank Group.
DeepSeek, a security threat
Various analyses suggest that the Chinese tool is not only heavily censored by Beijing authorities, aligning its responses with the Chinese Communist Party's official narrative, but it also presents a serious risk to user data security. DeepSeek collects far more user data than ChatGPT, including tracking details like keystroke patterns. This information is stored on servers in mainland China, which are governed by local laws and accessible to the Chinese government without the need for a court order.
SoftBank and OpenAI are part of the Stargate initiative, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States.
The Japanese banking group announced on Monday a partnership with OpenAI to provide advanced AI solutions to businesses.
"An in-principle agreement between Softbank and Open AIto form a 50-50 joint venture has just been signed," SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said as he unveiled the service called Cristal.
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