Technologies

ChatGPT Search Improves Its Shopping Experience

It’s a direct shot at Google’s Search-powered shopping tools.

ChatGPT Search, OpenAI’s AI-powered competitor to Google Search, is getting enhanced shopping features, including the ability to search for products, compare options and buy directly within ChatGPT, the company said in a press release Monday.

Users will see personalized recommendations, visual product details, pricing and product reviews. As with other ChatGPT queries, ChatGPT Search will, in the coming weeks, retain memory of users’ past shopping experiences and consider context from past conversations to help tailor a personalized experience.

Read more: Best AI Chatbots of 2025

ChatGPT Search will also provide direct links for products. This shopping experiment will include products in fashion, beauty, home goods and electronics, expanding the shopping categories as it learns more. OpenAI says it doesn’t make any affiliate revenue.

This feature is available to all ChatGPT users, including ones not logged in, via the GPT-4o model. OpenAI said the changes are now available in 4o, and beginning to roll out as of Monday to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Free and logged-out users.

A representative for OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Status of search

Online search is big business, and Google is currently the king of search, with 89.74% market share, according to Statcounter. With the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, more people have been turning to AI chatbots to satiate their online search demand.

Where traditional online searches rely on keywords and users filtering through sites to find the information they want, AI chatbots allow users to directly ask questions and get complete answers in the process.

Last year, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Search, a version of its AI chatbot that also searches the internet for up-to-date information. There are other players in the AI-powered online search game, including Perplexity and You.com. Google has also added AI into its core search product with AI Overviews, an experience that’s still producing incorrect information.

Google remains highly popular, seeing about 14 billion searches per day. While ChatGPT is seeing 500 million active weekly users, its popularity still pales in comparison to Google’s. Currently, Google is pulling in 373 times more searches than ChatGPT, according to SparkToro.

Search brought in $198 billion in revenue last year, thanks to ads and shopping recommendations placed against user queries. If OpenAI does aggressively monetize shopping recommendations in the future, it could eat away at Google revenues, as well as revenues from sites that make money from reviewing and recommending products.

ChatGPT Search is getting some other improvements as well. WhatsApp users can now send messages directly to ChatGPT within the app. It’s a peculiar integration considering WhatsApp owner Meta already has MetaAI baked into its apps. ChatGPT Search will also allow users to see trending search topics.

The regular version of ChatGPT is seeing improved citations as well, with the ability to cite multiple sources.

Technologies

Eat Your Movie Popcorn Out of Jaws’ Head, but the $45 Price Will Chomp Your Wallet

Come for the collectible, shark-mouth-shaped popcorn bucket, stay for the movie.

Movie theaters have been elevating their snacking experiences with collectible popcorn buckets for several years now, but one of the summer offerings will take a bloody bite out of your budget. Theater chain Alamo Drafthouse is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws with a limited-edition shark-shaped popcorn bucket, measuring 11 inches and costing a whopping $45.

The Jaws bucket is currently sold out online, but interested buyers with a lot of cash can sign up to be notified when its restocked. It’s one of the better buckets in recent years, featuring Jaws’ famed Bruce the great white shark with his, uh, jaws, wide open, and a place for popcorn right where the little Kintner boy ends up in the film. Spoiler if you haven’t seen a movie from 1975, I guess.

Read more: Best Live TV Streaming Services of 2025

Specialty popcorn buckets began in 2019 and soon proved to be big business. Not only do these speciality merch items serve as tangible memories of beloved films and events, but they are proving to be crucial for revenue. AMC Entertainment racked in just about $65 million in revenue last year thanks to novelty popcorn buckets, drink sippers and T-shirts.

You may remember the Taylor Swift-themed popcorn buckets available during the 2023 theatrical release of The Eras Tour movie, or the viral Sandworm Popcorn Vessel in honor of 2024’s Dune: Part Two. Now, studios and theaters are eager to keep the trend going with upcoming summer blockbusters.

This summer, be on the lookout for several more collection-worthy popcorn buckets. Marvel’s newest release, Thunderbolts, is playing in theaters — and it arrived with three new collectible popcorn buckets. In addition, new buckets were recently unveiled for the May 23 premiere of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the June 13 release of How to Train Your Dragon.

As far as the Jaws 50th anniversary goes, Alamo Drafthouse is also hosting special screenings, including Jaws on the Water events in Austin, Tex., home to the theater chain, and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where Jaws was originally shot.

Similarly, Universal Studios, the studio behind Jaws, is marking the milestone with exclusive merchandise, such as shark-themed drinking cups and apparel, available at their parks. Jaws will be streaming on Peacock starting June 15 and will return to theaters nationwide from Aug. 29-Sept. 4.