SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI is set to introduce a new search engine powered by ChatGPT, positioning itself to compete directly with Google and potentially altering how users access real-time information like news and sports results.

On Thursday, OpenAI announced that this search feature will initially be available to paying subscribers of ChatGPT, with plans to roll it out to all users in the near future. A preview version had already been shared with a limited audience, including select users and publishers, back in July.

When ChatGPT first debuted in 2022, it was trained on extensive online text but lacked the capability to provide timely updates on current events outside its training data.

In a similar vein, Google revamped its own search capabilities in May, incorporating AI-generated summaries that often appear at the top of search results. This innovation aims to swiftly address user queries, potentially obviating the need for users to click through to other websites for additional information.

Despite the upgrade, testing has revealed instances of misinformation, highlighting concerns surrounding the reliability of AI systems that are prone to factual inaccuracies, known as hallucinations.

The shift of AI firms toward having their chatbots source news from professional journalists has raised alarms within media circles. Prominent publications like The New York Times have initiated legal action against OpenAI and its partner Microsoft for alleged copyright violations. Additionally, in early October, News Corp, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, filed a lawsuit against another AI search platform named Perplexity.

In a blog entry published on Thursday, OpenAI stated that its new search tool has been developed with input from various news organizations, including The Associated Press and News Corp. The company confirmed that the search feature would include links to sources, encompassing news articles and blog posts. However, it remains uncertain whether these links will point back to the original sources of the information provided by the chatbot.