ChatGPT now has the capability to access the internet in real-time, but with a cost.

ChatGPT has established its versatility as a chatbot, demonstrating proficiency in tasks such as writing, coding, research, vacation planning, and more. Nevertheless, it has grappled with a significant limitation since its inception, which has now been rectified—albeit for those willing to meet the cost.

On Wednesday, via an X post (formerly Twitter), OpenAI revealed that ChatGPT now possesses the capability to access the internet in real-time and furnish direct links to its information sources. This upgraded functionality is exclusively available to subscribers of ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise plans. For paying customers, ChatGPT is no longer constrained by information pre-2021, which brings fresh capabilities and enhancing the chatbot’s reliability.

To access the internet, ChatGPT leverages Microsoft’s Bing web browser. The partnership between OpenAI and Microsoft was initially unveiled at Microsoft Build in May and was initially rolled out to ChatGPT Plus users. However, OpenAI later withdrew this feature after users started to exploit it to bypass paywalls. OpenAI has since integrated valuable user feedback received since the initial rollout in May, including features like “following robots.txt” and “identifying user agents, allowing websites to control ChatGPT’s interactions with them.”

To activate this feature, all ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise users need to do is select “Browse with Bing” from the drop-down menu under GPT-4. A ChatGPT Plus subscription is priced at $20 per month. For users seeking the most current information, the heightened accuracy and reliability offered by this feature may justify the investment.

Source: ChatGPT can finally access the internet in real time, but there’s a catch | ZDNET