China's Geely to Launch Hybrids with More Fuel-efficient Engines

FILE PHOTO: The Geely logo is seen at a car dealership in Shanghai, China August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Geely logo is seen at a car dealership in Shanghai, China August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
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China's Geely to Launch Hybrids with More Fuel-efficient Engines

FILE PHOTO: The Geely logo is seen at a car dealership in Shanghai, China August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Geely logo is seen at a car dealership in Shanghai, China August 17, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

China's Geely Holding Group on Wednesday said it would launch a series of hybrid models in the first half of next year equipped with its next-generation, more fuel-efficient engine.
Geely's engine achieves a thermal efficiency of up to 46.1%, according to a product certificate issued by the government-owned CATARC Huacheng Certification Co.
Geely said this was among the highest in the world, and would reduce fuel consumption and extend driving range, Reuters said.
The new models will be launched for Geely Auto's Galaxy series and its Lynk & Co brand.
Plug-in hybrids are the fastest growing fuel-type sector in China thanks to their affordability, and competition in the sector is intensifying.
BYD on Tuesday launched two hybrid sedans equipped with its new hybrid tech, priced from 99,800 yuan ($13,800).
BYD said the new hybrid tech enables fuel consumption on depleted batteries of 2.9 liters per 100 km under New European Driving Cycle tests, with a thermal efficiency of 46.06%.



OpenAI Enters Google-Dominated Search Market with SearchGPT 

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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OpenAI Enters Google-Dominated Search Market with SearchGPT 

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)

OpenAI is venturing into a territory long dominated by Google with the selective launch of SearchGPT, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine with real-time access to information from the internet.

The move, announced on Thursday, also places the AI giant in competition with its largest backer Microsoft's Bing search and emerging services such as Perplexity — a search-focused AI chatbot firm backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and semiconductor giant Nvidia.

Shares of Google's parent company Alphabet ended 3% lower on Thursday after OpenAI's announcement.

OpenAI said it has opened sign-ups for the new tool, which is currently in the prototype stage and is being tested with a small group of users and publishers. The company plans to integrate the best features from the search tool into ChatGPT in the future.

"AI-powered search tools from OpenAI and Perplexity re-affirm search as a content engagement model but pressure Google to be better at its own game," Canaccord Genuity analyst Kingsley Crane said.

Google dominates the search engine market with a 91.1% share as of June, according to web analytics firm Statcounter.

SearchGPT will provide summarized search results with source links in response to user queries, OpenAI said in a blog post. Users will also be able to ask follow-up questions and receive contextual responses.

The company will give publishers access to tools for managing how their content appears in SearchGPT results. News Corp and The Atlantic are publishing partners for SearchGPT.

SearchGPT signals a closer collaboration between publishers and OpenAI, following content licensing agreements with major organizations like Associated Press, News Corp and Axel Springer.

"Newer AI-powered search providers could face challenges of their own, with Perplexity already facing pending legal action from publishers like Wired and Forbes, and Condé Nast," said Crane.

Major search engines have been trying to integrate AI into search since ChatGPT first launched in November 2022. Microsoft, through its early investment, adopted OpenAI technology for its Bing search engine, while Google rolled out AI-powered summaries for the wider public at its developer conference in May.

Google did not respond to a Reuters query on the potential impact of SearchGPT on its business.

Reuters had earlier reported on OpenAI's plans around AI search in May.