Anthropic boosts its AI assistant Claude with web search 🌐

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Until now, Claude, Anthropic’s chatbot, was an impressive AI assistant, but limited to its internal knowledge. With this new update, it finally joins the big leagues by accessing the web in real-time, delivering more up-to-date, relevant, and well-sourced responses. This long-awaited evolution puts it in direct competition with ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

How Does Claude’s Web Search Work? 🔎

When you ask Claude 3.7 Sonnet a question, it no longer relies solely on its knowledge base, which was frozen as of October 2024. Instead, it now searches the web, checking reputable sources like Reuters or NPR, as well as social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter). The best part? It clearly cites its sources, reducing the risk of the infamous « hallucinations » that sometimes plague AI-generated responses.

Who Can Use It? 💼

For now, this feature is available exclusively to paid subscribers in the United States. Anthropic has promised an international rollout and free-tier access soon. To activate it, users simply need to enable the option in their account settings.

A Strategic Move Against the Competition 🌟

Anthropic initially positioned Claude as a standalone AI without web access, unlike ChatGPT and Gemini. However, due to market pressure and user demand, the company had to rethink its strategy. This update could reposition Claude as a strong contender in the race for the most advanced AI assistants.

The addition of web search transforms Claude into a more powerful and relevant assistant. While still a work in progress, this feature marks a turning point for Anthropic. The real question now is whether it can live up to expectations against well-established competitors.

Do you use Claude daily? What do you think about AI assistants in general? Share your thoughts in the comments!