Anthropic has recently added a web search capability to its chatbot, Claude. The company announced on Wednesday that this feature is currently available as a "feature preview" for paid users in the United States, who need to enable the web search option in their personal settings. Scott White, the head of Claude product at Anthropic, stated that the company plans to extend this functionality to free users and more countries "in the coming weeks."
By integrating web search capabilities, Claude can now access up-to-date information from the internet, making it more practical for tasks requiring timely data. The system also adds citations for information sources so users can verify accuracy. In a video demonstration provided by Anthropic, when asked about building web applications, the model triggered the "search web" function and highlighted relevant sources alongside its response.
The implementation of the web search feature took considerable time. ChatGPT launched a prototype of its search function in July of last year and gradually rolled it out over the following months. Due to strong user demand for Claude's web search functionality, some even devised their own solutions to allow AI internet access.
Explaining why it took Anthropic so long to implement what seems like a basic feature, White noted that deep integration of these features with the model complicates matters. When asked whether such features (which have higher operational costs than traditional search engines) might eventually lead to increased user fees, White said they would not, though the company may "adopt different pricing structures for new functionalities in the future."
The complexity of AI search lies in combining two intricate systems: probabilistic language models and web search. Unlike deterministic systems (such as calculators) that always produce the same output for identical inputs, large language models generate varied responses based on statistical probabilities, meaning accuracy can vary significantly. When combined with web search, issues quickly become challenging. We've already witnessed notable failures resulting from this combination, such as Google’s AI overview confidently suggesting applying glue to pizza, having scraped some satirical Reddit comments. The consequences of failure can range from amusing headlines to copyright lawsuits.
White emphasized Claude's use of citations, allowing users to easily verify content even if Claude makes mistakes. In other words, if Claude suggests eating stones, one can check whether the advice originated from WebMD or The Onion.
