European search engines Qwant and Ecosia said on Wednesday that they have both started serving search queries through an index they developed together, Staan, which aims to be a cheaper, more privacy-focused alternative to Google and Bing.
Last year, French privacy-focused search engine Qwant struck a joint venture with German non-profit search engine Ecosia, to develop a European search index. Called European Search Perspective (EUSP), the JV now aims to serve around 50% of French queries and 33% of German queries by the end of the year.
Qwant said it is using the new index to power some of its features, like AI summaries for search, and Ecosia has plans to add some AI features soon to its platform, too.
EUSP is also in talks with companies to spur the adoption of its index for enabling search within apps. Notably, it is targeting chatbots, presenting Staan as a cheaper alternative to Google and Bing.
“If you’re using ChatGPT or any other AI chatbot, they all do knowledge grounding with web search […] our index can power deep research and AI summary features. Google and Bing’s solutions are also pricey, and our index can offer power search features at a tenth of the cost,” Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, told TechCrunch.
EUSP, like Proton, is pushing to develop a European tech stack that doesn’t rely on technology from the U.S. or China.
“The timing could not be more urgent. The outcome of the 2024 U.S. election has reminded European policymakers and innovators just how exposed Europe remains when it comes to core digital infrastructure. Much of Europe’s search, cloud, and AI layers are built on American Big Tech stacks, putting entire sectors – from journalism to climate tech – at the mercy of political or commercial agendas,” the companies said in a statement.
Kroll added that through this index, combined with European privacy laws, EUSP can offer a more privacy-friendly search solution as compared to its U.S. counterparts.
I was hopeful for this when I heard that Ecosia and Qwant were working together to reduce reliance on Microsoft and Google, but a search engine “designed specifically for LLMs and generative AI agents” was not what I was hoping for.
Same, I want a search engine without LLM. If I want to use an LLM I’ll go use one - no need to force it on me everywhere.
Removed by mod
They literally call it a search index. That is something else. The title indicates it’s something else. The article starts by indicating it’s something else.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind AI on a search engine if, instead of trying to give the answer to a query, it instead sifted through results and offered relevant ones to the user, as links to the source. Like, “Here’s what I found”,
“Cake recipes”
Here’s a chocolate cake recipe: link
I’ve also found a strawberry cake recipe: link
There’s also a quick microwave mug cake recipe: link
Perplexity.ai works like that.
And I believe ChatGPT as well when using the paid version.
Given the EU’s appalling track record on privacy and censorship I don’t consider this an upgrade. Any competitor in this space needs to be run outside the control of any major governing body.
I don’t know what the chat control has to do with this. (And that aside, it won’t come as it didn’t in the past, although I am sure they try it again after the Denmark presidency has failed. It’s a constant fight not to become like dystopian dictatorship.)
You speak of “track record”, but link to an article about “could in the future”.
Before we get excited may I remind who are the 2 persons behind Qwant (sorry there’s no english version of these wikipedia pages) :
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Éric_Léandri
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Manuel_Rozan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Controversies_and_disputes
It is noteworthy that unlike proprietary solutions, EUSP’s index will be available to other independent search engines and technology companies.
- Both organizations have historically relied on Microsoft’s Bing platform – with Ecosia switching to a mix of Google and Bing search results last year.
- Headed by Qwant CEO Olivier Abecassis, European Search Perspective aims to build digital sovereignty within Europe and ensure the continent has a strong, independent alternative to existing search technologies.
- The venture will aim to improve user search experience – delivering tailored hits and a stronger search product for Europeans.
Do you think Qwant is worse than Google?
Staan - a dyslexic’s word for satan?
/s
Or the Dutch word for standing
