Anthropic's AI-powered chatbot, Claude, has finally gained the ability to search the web, a capability that had long been missing from its feature set. This new feature, available now in preview for paid Claude users in the U.S., allows Claude to automatically search across websites to inform its responses, providing users with more accurate and up-to-date information.

The web search feature is currently only available for users with the latest Anthropic model powering Claude, Claude 3.7 Sonnet. To access the feature, users can toggle on web search in their profile settings from the Claude web app. According to Anthropic, support for free users and additional countries will be coming soon.

One of the key benefits of Claude's web search capability is its ability to provide direct citations for the sources it uses, allowing users to easily fact-check the information provided. This feature is particularly useful in a conversational AI format, where users may not have the time or resources to search for information themselves. By processing and delivering relevant sources in a conversational format, Claude can provide answers based on more current information, expanding its extensive knowledge base.

The addition of web search to Claude's feature set brings it to parity with most rival AI-powered chatbots, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Mistral's Le Chat. This is a significant development, as Anthropic had previously argued that Claude was "designed to be self-contained" and did not need web search capabilities. It is likely that competitive pressures played a role in the reversal of this stance.

The implications of Claude's new web search capability are significant, as it opens up new possibilities for users to access accurate and up-to-date information in a conversational format. This could have applications in a wide range of industries, from customer service to education, and could potentially revolutionize the way we interact with AI-powered chatbots.

As the AI chatbot landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Claude's new feature set is received by users and how it compares to its rivals. One thing is certain, however: with the addition of web search, Claude has taken a significant step forward in its development and is now a more formidable competitor in the AI chatbot market.