Anthropic Enhances Claude Chatbot with Web Search Feature

On Thursday, Anthropic, which has backing from Amazon.com, Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, unveiled a significant enhancement to its Claude chatbot by enabling it to search the internet. This advancement positions Claude alongside its competitors, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Mistral's Le Chat.

What Happened: Currently in preview for paid users in the U.S., this web search capability is accessible through Claude 3.7 Sonnet, the latest iteration of the company’s advanced model.

Users can easily activate the web search feature via profile settings in the Claude web application.

According to a blog post from Anthropic, "When Claude incorporates information from the web into its responses, it provides direct citations so you can easily fact-check sources. Instead of finding search results yourself, Claude processes and delivers relevant sources in a conversational format." This feature aims to enhance user experience by making information retrieval more efficient.

Why It’s Important: This development is noteworthy as it reflects a shift in Anthropic's earlier philosophy prioritizing a "self-contained" Claude. Previously, Claude was restricted from accessing web results, but increasing competition in the AI chatbot arena seems to have prompted this change. Anthropic now faces the challenge of maintaining relevance in its responses while ensuring accuracy.

A recent study by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism highlighted that AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Gemini, gave incorrect answers over 60% of the time for inquiries related to news. This statistic raises important questions about the reliability of AI-generated information as companies strive for improvements.

In March 2025, Anthropic secured $3.5 billion in a Series E funding round, boosting its valuation to $61.5 billion. This financial backing underscores the growing interest and investment in AI technology.

Additionally, last month, the company filed a legal challenge against a U.S. government proposal that sought to limit Google's investments in AI startups, indicating its proactive stance in the evolving regulatory landscape.

Image Courtesy: Shutterstock.com

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI and reviewed by editors.

AI, chatbot, internet