DuckDuckGo launches generative AI search assistant

DuckDuckGo Inc. at the moment launched DuckAssist, a brand new function in its search engine that generates pure language responses to consumer questions.

DuckAssist is powered by generative synthetic intelligence fashions from OpenAI LLC and Anthropic, a San Francisco-based machine studying startup. The function joins the rising checklist of generative AI instruments launched by search engine suppliers in current months.

Pennsylvania-based DuckDuckGo operates a preferred privacy-centric search engine of the identical identify. In line with the startup’s internal estimates, it had 80 million customers in November 2020. The next June, DuckDuckGo stated that its month-to-month search visitors had elevated 55% throughout the previous 12 months.

The corporate’s new DuckAssist function generates transient solutions to consumer questions primarily based on data in Wikipedia articles. In some instances, the function additionally attracts on different sources resembling Encyclopedia Britannica. DuckAssist solutions seem in a panel above customary DuckDuckGo search outcomes together with a hyperlink to the article from which the knowledge was retrieved.

DuckAssist is carried out as a part of the corporate’s present On the spot Solutions device. The device permits customers to entry maps, climate forecasts and different data instantly within the DuckDuckGo interface with out having to click on on search outcomes. It’s supposed to offer extra related solutions to consumer queries than present On the spot Solutions responses. 

“For this preliminary trial, DuckAssist is most probably to seem in our search outcomes when customers seek for questions which have easy solutions in Wikipedia,” DuckDuckGo founder and Chief Govt Officer Gabriel Weinberg wrote in a blog post. “Suppose questions like ‘what’s a search engine index?’ reasonably than extra subjective questions like ‘what’s the finest search engine?’. We’re utilizing the latest full Wikipedia obtain obtainable, which is at most a couple of weeks previous.”

DuckDuckGo’s search engine is accessible in a number of editions. There’s a web-based model, in addition to a cellular version and browser extensions that swap the consumer’s default search engine to DuckDuckGo. On launch, the brand new DuckAssist function is accessible by way of the corporate’s cellular apps and browser extensions.

Weinberg detailed that the corporate will roll out DuckAssist to all customers “quickly” if the preliminary trial meets expectations. In the long run, the corporate is planning to launch plenty of extra generative AI options for its search engine. It expects to roll out the options in coming months.

The launch of DuckAssist comes a couple of weeks after Google LLC and Microsoft Corp. each introduced AI-powered chatbots for his or her respective search engines like google. You.com Inc., a venture-backed search startup, has additionally rolled out an AI chatbot to assist customers discover solutions to their questions quicker.

OpenAI and Anthropic, the 2 startups with which DuckDuckGo partnered to develop its DuckAssistant function, have each secured vital funding rounds not too long ago. Microsoft made an investment believed to be value $10 billion in OpenAI this previous January. Anthropic reportedly raised about $300 million from Google LLC late final 12 months. 

Picture: DuckDuckGo