ChatGPT Adds Shopping Help, Intensifying Google Rivalry

FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
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ChatGPT Adds Shopping Help, Intensifying Google Rivalry

FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 18 April 2023, Berlin: On the monitor of a cell phone you can see the ChatGPT logo. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

OpenAI announced Monday that ChatGPT is now helping users find products online, enhancing its challenge to Google amid regulatory pressure on the search giant's market dominance.

The new shopping capability further blurs the line between AI chatbots and search engines, signaling OpenAI's ambition to compete with Google in a market the latter has controlled for decades.

"Search has become one of our most popular and fastest growing features, with over 1 billion web searches just in the past week," the San Francisco-based company said in a post on X.

Rolled out on Monday, the update allows shoppers to find and compare items through natural conversation, then connect directly to merchants for purchases.

"Instead of scrolling through pages of results, you can simply start a conversation," OpenAI's post said, adding that users could also ask follow-up questions or compare products.

ChatGPT's shopping feature initially focuses on fashion, beauty, and home electronics categories. Product recommendations are personalized and come from the web, not advertisements, OpenAI said.

To counter increasing competition from AI chatbots, Google has integrated its own Gemini assistant into search results, providing AI-generated answers above traditional website links.

The rivalry intensified last week when an OpenAI executive testified the company would consider purchasing Chrome if Google were forced to sell the browser as part of an ongoing US antitrust case.



Microsoft Server Hack Has Now Hit 400 Victims, Researchers Say

A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Server Hack Has Now Hit 400 Victims, Researchers Say

A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows the Microsoft logo on the day of the Hannover Messe, one of the world's largest industrial trade fairs with this year's partner country being Canada, as both Canada and the European Union face new US tariffs, in Hanover, Germany, March 31, 2025. (Reuters)

A sweeping cyber-espionage campaign organization centered on vulnerable versions of Microsoft's server software has now claimed about 400 victims, according to researchers at Netherlands-based Eye Security.

The figure, which is derived from a count of digital artifacts discovered during scans of servers running vulnerable versions of Microsoft's SharePoint software, compares to 100 organizations cataloged over the weekend. Eye Security says the figure is likely an undercount, Reuters reported.

"There are many more, because not all attack vectors have left artifacts that we could scan for," said Vaisha Bernard, the chief hacker for Eye Security, which was among the first organizations to flag the breaches, Reuters reported.

The spy campaign kicked off after Microsoft failed to fully patch a security hole in its SharePoint server software, kicking off a scramble to fix the vulnerability when it was discovered. Microsoft and its tech rival, Google owner Alphabet, have both said Chinese hackers are among those taking advantage of the flaw. Beijing has denied the claim.

The details of most of the victim organizations have not yet been fully disclosed. Bernard declined to identify them.