Move over, Perplexity. There’s a new AI search engine in town — and its creators think it can one-up the many, many other attempts out there.
Called Genspark, the platform taps into genetic artificial intelligence to write custom summaries in response to search queries. Type in a search like, “What is the best formula for newborns?” and Genspark will create a Sparkpage: an overview of a page combined from websites and content on the web.
It’s an experience similar (apparently) to the Arc Browser’s Arc Search feature, launched earlier this year, and Google’s AI Insights in Google Search. But Eric Jing, who founded the eponymous body behind Genspark with Kay Zhu in 2023, claims Genspark is able to deliver higher-quality results by taking a more surgical approach.
“Genspark uses several specialized AI models, each designed to address specific types of queries,” Jing told TechCrunch. “Sparkpages is very much like a distillation and consolidation of the current web. We also enrich them with comprehensive data, and for users it looks like an index to the existing web.”
Under the hood, Genspark relies on models trained internally as well as third-party models from OpenAI, Anthropic and others to categorize users’ search queries and determine how to organize — and present — the results. A basic AI-generated summary fills the top of each results page, followed by a link to a much more detailed Sparkpage.
For example, for travel-related searches, Genspark will display a Wikipedia-like Spark page with a table of contents, videos of popular nearby destinations, tips, and a chatbot for questions on various subtopics (e.g., “List of the best cultural experiences”). Meanwhile, product searches on Genspark return Sparkpages with a list of pros and cons about the product in question, as well as aggregated comments and reviews from social media, publications and e-commerce stores.
“Our AI models prefer websites with high power and popularity, which goes a long way in filtering out most of the ‘out there’ information,” Jing said.
Much has been written about AI-generated reviews gone wrong. Google’s AI Overviews infamously suggested putting glue on a pizza. Arc Search told a reporter that the severed toes it will eventually grow back. And embarrassment they grabbed articles written by outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg and Forbes without giving credit or attribution.
So has Genspark solved all the safety and accuracy problems? Well, not exactly.
Genspark wasn’t telling me to make a pizza with glue — nor was it insisting there were any health benefits of running with scissors or that former US President Barack Obama practices Islam. But the search engine He made we recommend some weapons that I might use to kill someone.
Questionable ethical search results aren’t the only controversy Genspark faces. This and other platforms like it threaten to cannibalize traffic to the sites they source their information from.
Indeed, it already is.
A study found that AI Reviews could they negatively impact about 25% of publisher traffic due to the de-emphasis on web links. On the revenue side, an expert cited by The New York Post is appreciated that AI-generated reviews could cost publishers more than $2 billion in losses thanks to the resulting reduction in ad impressions.
I couldn’t find any examples of outright plagiarism on Genspark, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Sparkpages, like Wikipedia pages, are not static. After Genspark’s AI creates the outline, anyone can share and edit copies of a Spark page and add any information they want — including offensive, incorrect, or plagiarized information.
Additionally — at least right now — there’s no way to report problematic Sparkpages.
Jing says that Sparkpages are open and editable by design to allow users to review their claims, and that Genspark’s AI systems take every modification into account to improve results in the future. He also says that Genspark plans to license copyrighted content – including publisher content – where it makes sense, with the goal of improving the engine’s overall accuracy.
“We take data quality seriously, and we believe that data quality is the key to winning this race,” Jing said. “Respecting intellectual property is a core value.”
How much will Genspark pay for IP? This has not yet been removed. So is Genspark’s business model: Jing says the platform will introduce “premium features” in the future, but details are up in the air.
Despite the fact that Genspark is in the early stages of its roadmap and has major technical – plus legal and ethical – hurdles ahead, the startup has managed to close a large, $60 million seed round led by VC firm Lanchi with based in Singapore. Entrepreneurs at $260 million post-money valuation.
Jui Tan, managing partner at Lanchi, called Genspark’s approach “really exciting” and said he had confidence in Jing and Zhu’s technical direction, pointing to the pair’s past experiences building AI and search products.
Jing was formerly director of development at Microsoft’s Bing team and head of product at Chinese tech giant Baidu’s basic search and artificial intelligence divisions. Zhu, also a former Google and search-focused Baidu employee, teamed up with Jing four years ago to launch Xiaodu, a hardware startup that makes Amazon Echo-style smart devices.
“Eric and Kay are seasoned serial entrepreneurs with a proven track record of building successful products and businesses, particularly in the AI and search domains,” Tan told TechCrunch. “Their team’s extensive experience uniquely positions them to drive breakthrough innovations.”
But I think it’s an uphill battle.
Assuming for a moment that Genspark can solve its technology problems, identify a monetization plan, and scale up its small (~20 person) team based in Singapore and the Bay Area, none of these are easy jobs, they will face intense competitive pressure from rival pioneers with hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank — not to mention search incumbents like Google.
So can Genspark Really survive the poor visibility and failed go-to-market strategies that have plagued other attempts at AI search engines? And it can create a niche in a future in which, say, OpenAI launches a comparable tool?
I’m not convinced. But Jing is adamant that he can.
“Many Internet users, especially those younger than Google, don’t want to be just given a list of links and then left to figure out the rest, all while navigating sponsored and content-based content. SEO gaming the system. Jing said. “They want to find what they need faster, they want more visual results and they want to know the results are reliable. With artificial intelligence, we can achieve all of this, and we have launched Genspark to meet these needs.”
