Earlier this week, Anthropic introduced a web search feature for its AI-driven chatbot platform, Claude, aligning it with several of its competitors. The specific search index supporting this feature was initially unclear, with a potential assumption being that Anthropic had developed its own. However, evidence indicates that Brave Search, operated by the browser developer Brave, is being utilized.
This development was identified by software engineer Antonio Zugaldia on Friday, when Anthropic included “Brave Search” in the subprocessor list within its documentation. This list details Anthropic’s partners who process data for Claude. British programmer Simon Willison reported that at least one search execution in Claude and Brave yielded identical citations. Willison also discovered that Claude’s web search function incorporates a parameter named “BraveSearchParams.”
Inquiries have been made to Anthropic for further clarification, and updates will be provided upon receiving additional information.
Brave is also the underlying technology for another chatbot’s search functionality, specifically Mistral’s chatbot platform Le Chat. In February, it was announced by Brave and Mistral that Le Chat would employ Brave’s search API for delivering live web results.
Numerous AI companies maintain secrecy regarding their partnerships related to search indexes, possibly to maintain a competitive edge. OpenAI, for instance, is known to have a partnership with Bing but also utilizes other undisclosed sources to enhance the search experience in ChatGPT.
