OpenAI Unveils AI-Driven Web Research Agent

OpenAI has introduced Deep Research, a powerful AI agent within ChatGPT designed to conduct in-depth web research, analyze data, and generate reports. The feature is now available to Pro users and is aimed at professionals in finance, science, policy, and engineering.

How Deep Research Works

Users can input queries and attach documents or spreadsheets for context. The AI then scans hundreds of sources over five to 30 minutes, tracking its process in a sidebar before delivering a fully cited report.

Competitive Landscape: OpenAI vs. DeepSeek

Deep Research’s release comes amid growing competition from China-based DeepSeek, which claims to offer similar AI capabilities at lower costs. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described Deep Research as “like a superpower—experts on demand.”

Limitations and Future Improvements

While Deep Research outperforms competitors in accuracy benchmarks, OpenAI admits the model still occasionally hallucinates facts or struggles with source reliability. The company is working on a faster, cost-effective version to expand access.

AI Race for Autonomous Knowledge Discovery

With Google’s Gemini 2.0 also rolling out similar features, the AI industry is shifting toward autonomous research capabilities, redefining how knowledge is gathered and applied.
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