Weekly Tech Roundup: OpenAI Launches Google Search Rival, Apple Maps Comes to the Web, and More

1) OpenAI launches Google search competitor:

After months of rumors, Sam Altman’s OpenAI startup has finally revealed a Google search competitor called SearchGPT. The new feature is currently in a “prototype” phase and is only available via a waitlist, but is expected to roll out to all users in the future.

In a blog post about the new search feature, OpenAI wrote: “We’re testing SearchGPT, a prototype of new search features designed to combine the power of our AI models with information from the web to deliver fast, timely answers from clear and relevant sources.”

The SearchGPT homepage is similar to Google and we get the message “what are you looking for?”. After entering a search query we get a direct answer, very similar to Perplexity or Google’s disgraced AI reviews feature.

2) Meta introduces the latest language model to compete with GPT-4o:

Meta has announced its latest open-source language model, Llama 3.1 405B, which is intended to compete with GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet in human evaluations and benchmarks. The new model has a context window of 128k tokens and is intended to offer new use cases, such as synthetic data generation and model distillation.

3) Apple Maps comes to the web:

Tech giant Apple has unveiled the public beta of Apple Maps on the web, allowing users around the world to access the service directly from their browsers. The new web-based Apple Maps can be accessed via both Chrome and Safari browsers, giving users access to driving and walking directions, gas station information, and comprehensive details about places right on their desktops.

Users can now reportedly get driving and walking directions, search for places, and view detailed information like photos, hours, ratings, and reviews, all from a browser. This web-based version of Apple Maps aims to provide a solid navigation tool without the need for a dedicated app.

In addition, users can directly order food from the Maps place card, providing added convenience. The guides feature helps users find recommended restaurants, shops, and points of interest in different cities, making it a valuable tool for both everyday use and travel navigation.

4) Google reverses decision to remove third-party cookies in Chrome:

In a significant policy change, Google announced Monday that it will no longer continue with its plan to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. Instead, the tech giant will introduce a new system that will let users choose their tracking preferences in Google’s search products. The new approach is intended to give users more control over their browsing data, according to Anthony Chavez, Google’s vice president of privacy, who detailed the changes in a blog post .

“Instead of phasing out third-party cookies, we’re building a new experience in Chrome that lets users make informed decisions about their tracking preferences,” Chavez wrote. “These choices will last as you browse the web, and you can adjust them at any time.”

5) Elon Musk’s X will now allow users to disable replying to posts:

Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon introduce a new feature that will allow users to disable links in replies to their posts. While the feature hasn’t been officially announced and there’s no confirmation as to why it was created, the most likely scenario is that it’s an attempt to combat the plague of spam bots on the platform, which tend to leave self-promotional links in replies to people’s posts.

It was first spotted by independent app researcher Nim Owji, and later confirmed by X’s senior director of security engineering, Christopher Stanley, in a response to the post. Responding to the post about the new feature, Stanley said, “My team built this.”

Milestone Reached Alert!
Livemint tops list of fastest growing news sites in the world 🌏 click here Know more.

3.6 Crore Indians visited us in a single day, choosing us as India’s undisputed platform for announcing the results of general elections. Browse Latest Updates Here!

Posted: Jul 28, 2024 2:40 PM EST