OpenAI Taps Google Search Data to Power ChatGPT

OpenAI has been using scraped Google search results from SerpApi to help power ChatGPT responses, particularly for current events, despite Google having denied its direct request for access. SerpApi, which also lists Apple, Meta, and Perplexity as customers, has faced pushback from Google, which has tried to block its crawlers but has not pursued legal action. OpenAI supplements the scraped data with its own web crawler and Microsoft’s Bing API, though executives admit replicating Google’s search accuracy remains out of reach. The practice underscores both OpenAI’s dependence on rivals’ search infrastructure and the competitive tensions between the two companies as they battle for dominance in AI-driven search.