(Reuters) -OpenAI on Thursday said it is selectively rolling out SearchGPT, an artificial intelligence-powered search engine with real time access to the information from the internet.

The move puts the Microsoft-backed startup in direct competition with Google, the dominant search engine in the market.

Following OpenAI’s announcement, shares of Google’s parent company, Alphabet fell 2% 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.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)