It’s now evident that the next major leap in AI technology is AI-powered search engines. Instead of presenting a list of websites to browse, these tools generate concise summaries based on user queries. While this approach comes with significant challenges, it hasn’t deterred companies from developing their own AI search solutions. Anthropic recently announced that Claude 3.7 Sonnet now has web-search capabilities.
Claude can now search the web
It was inevitable that the Amazon and Google-backed AI startup would introduce this feature. While Anthropic isn’t as large as Google or OpenAI, it has been developing ambitious AI innovations. One of its current projects includes a model designed to operate a computer on behalf of users.
On Thursday, the company announced that its Claude 3.7 Sonnet model now has web search capabilities. Instead of displaying a list of web pages, it provides a chatbot-style summary of the search query. However, as a search engine, it still cites the sources it references.
In the GIF Anthropic used to demonstrate the feature, sources briefly appear before the AI-generated response takes over. However, we would need to see it in action to confirm this. Ultimately, it functions similarly to other AI search engines.
Anthropic appears to be using Brave to power web search for its Claude chatbot
There’s a bad side
While AI search engines bring innovation, they also pose significant challenges. A recent study found that these tools link to over 90% fewer websites than traditional search engines. As a result, many websites have shut down due to declining traffic caused by AI-driven tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, and AI Overviews.
Some companies attempt to address this issue by providing a minimal list of sources. While this technology offers time-saving benefits, its overall impact—whether positive or negative—remains uncertain.
