OpenAI is set to announce its AI-powered search product on Monday, according to sources familiar with the matter, intensifying its competition with Google. The announcement date, although subject to change, has not been previously reported.

While OpenAI declined to comment before Reuters published its report on Thursday, the company later confirmed through a post on X that it would hold a live event on Monday to showcase updates to its ChatGPT and GPT-4 models. CEO Sam Altman clarified that the announcement would not involve GPT-5 or a search engine but teased "some new stuff we think people will love."

The timing of OpenAI's announcement, a day before the start of Google's annual I/O conference on Tuesday, suggests a strategic move to capture attention amid expectations of AI-related product launches from Google.

OpenAI's search product builds on its ChatGPT platform, allowing ChatGPT to retrieve information directly from the web with citations. While ChatGPT has been viewed as an alternative for gathering online information, it has faced challenges in providing accurate and real-time data. The integration with Microsoft's Bing for paid subscribers was an earlier attempt to address this issue.

Meanwhile, Perplexity, a startup founded by a former OpenAI researcher, has gained traction with its AI-native search interface, boasting 10 million monthly active users. Perplexity's approach includes displaying citations and images alongside text in search results.

OpenAI's ChatGPT, launched in late 2022, experienced rapid growth to 100 million monthly active users but has since faced fluctuations in traffic. The company is under pressure to expand its user base and improve the accuracy of its information retrieval.

OpenAI previously retired its ChatGPT plugins, an attempt to incorporate updated and real-world information, in April, according to a help center posting on its website.