OpenAI announces new 'deep research' tool for ChatGPT

File picture

US tech giant OpenAI on Monday unveiled a ChatGPT tool called "deep research" ahead of high-level meetings in Tokyo, as China's DeepSeek chatbot heats up competition in the AI field.

Artificial intelligence newcomer DeepSeek has sent Silicon Valley into a frenzy, with its high performance and supposed low cost prompting calls for US developers to go faster.

OpenAI, whose ChatGPT fronted generative AI's emergence into public consciousness in 2022, said its new tool "accomplishes in tens of minutes what would take a human many hours".

"Deep research is OpenAI's next agent that can do work for you independently, you give it a prompt, and ChatGPT will find, analyse, and synthesise hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst," it said in a statement.

In a livestreamed video announcement, OpenAI researchers showed how the tool can synthesise web search data to help recommend ski equipment to buy for a snow holiday in Japan.

OpenAI chief Sam Altman is in Tokyo to meet Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba later Monday along with Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese tech investment behemoth SoftBank Group.

SoftBank and OpenAI are part of the Stargate drive announced by US President Donald Trump to invest up to $500 billion (AED 1.8 trillion) in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.

Ishiba is expected to visit Washington to meet Trump for the leaders' first in-person meeting later this week.

On Monday afternoon, Altman and Son will hold a forum in Tokyo with around 500 businesses at which they are expected to announce plans to boost Japan's AI infrastructure.

The Nikkei business daily reported that this will include building AI data centres and power plants to run them, without specifying the scale of the investment required.

Separately, Altman told the Nikkei he wants to develop "a new kind of hardware" using artificial intelligence in partnership with Apple's former chief design officer Jony Ive.

But Altman indicated that it would take several years to unveil a prototype, the Nikkei said.

Altman also told the newspaper that DeepSeek is "a good model" that highlights the serious competition for AI reasoning technology, but that its "capability level isn't new".

DeepSeek's performance has sparked a wave of accusations that it has reverse-engineered the capabilities of leading US technology, such as the AI powering ChatGPT.

Last week OpenAI warned that Chinese companies are actively attempting to replicate its advanced AI models, prompting closer cooperation with US authorities.

More from Business

  • UAE and Ukraine explore investment opportunities

    The UAE and Ukraine have discussed investment opportunities in the European country, with a particular emphasis on infrastructure projects, under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two nations.

  • DIFC records strongest-ever financial performance in 2024

    Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) recorded its strongest-ever annual performance in 2024 thanks to combined revenues of AED 1.78 billion from almost 7,000 registered companies.

  • Dubai's Huda Beauty separates from Kayali brand

    Dubai-based beauty moguls Huda and Mona Kattan have confirmed that brands Huda Beauty and Kayali are to operate separately, as private equity firm General Atlantic comes onboard to take ownership of the fragrance brand.

  • Tesla begins hiring in India after Musk and Modi meet

    Electric vehicle maker Tesla has begun hiring in India, with the company of tycoon Elon Musk issuing advertisements days after US President Donald Trump's right-hand man met with India's premier.

  • UAE, Ukraine Presidents witness CEPA signing

    President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, on Monday attended the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries.