In a strategic shift aimed at reducing reliance on tech giants like Google and Microsoft, Meta is reportedly developing its own search engine specifically designed for its chatbot. This initiative seems to come in the wake of past challenges the company faced due to an Apple privacy feature.
Meta’s efforts to create an independent search engine have been underway for at least eight months. The goal is to develop a web indexing system that can be integrated into Meta AI, providing the chatbot with an alternative to traditional search engines like Google Search and Microsoft Bing.
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Earlier this summer, Meta publicly revealed its web crawler technology, mentioning it was intended for “training AI models or improving products,” but it did not disclose that a search engine was in development. Xueyuan Su, a senior engineering manager at Meta, is reportedly leading this project.
This move is largely seen as a response to Meta’s struggles with other major tech firms, particularly after the introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature in 2021, reports The Information (via Engadget). Meta previously claimed that this privacy feature could cost the company over $10 billion in lost advertising revenue.
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CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s push for Meta to become more self-sufficient appears to be a direct result of these past challenges. By developing its own search engine, Meta likely aims to prevent a situation where it could be cut off from essential web search services provided by Google or Microsoft. However, it is still unclear if Meta currently pays either of these companies for access to their search services.
The investments in AI seem to be yielding positive results for Meta. Zuckerberg recently announced on Threads that Meta AI has over 185 million weekly active users and more than 400 million monthly users. He noted that these figures are growing rapidly, especially considering the service has yet to launch in key markets such as the UK, Brazil, and the European Union. In comparison, OpenAI reported that ChatGPT has approximately 250 million weekly users as of earlier this month.