What is OpenAI’s New “Deep Research” Feature? Implications for Digital Publishers and Data Providers
OpenAI’s new tool extends the capabilities of an LLM, enabling more complex research and queries.
On February 2, 2025, OpenAI introduced deep research, a powerful new feature within ChatGPT that autonomously conducts complex research tasks. With deep research, users can submit far more intricate queries — along with supporting documents like PDFs, spreadsheets, or images — and receive well-structured and cited reports analyzing findings.
Currently the new feature is available only to Pro users in the U.S., with the $200 monthly subscription providing 100 research queries. While OpenAI touted the capabilities of the new approach as a significant advancement, the firm also acknowledged that the tool was capable of making critical research mistakes, though claiming that hallucinations and errors were significantly less likely than any other previous offering.
With OpenAI reporting up to 30 minutes of processing time on a single task, deep research operates with greater autonomy than any previously available model. With the ability independently plan and execute multi-step research trajectories to synthesize findings and deliver reports, OpenAI warns that the amount of compute for deep research exceeds any other publicly available model.
What This Means for Digital Publishers and Data Providers
One of the most significant aspects of OpenAI’s announcement is its vision for integrating deep research with external data sources:
“In the future, you’ll be able to connect to more specialized data sources — expanding [deep research’s] access to subscription-based or internal resources — to make its output even more robust and personalized.”
This statement signals a major shift in how AI systems like ChatGPT interact with proprietary data. Instead of being limited to publicly available sources or sources that have struck licensing deals directly with OpenAI directly, it seems the firm is signalling support for future iterations to integrate directly with paywalled content and proprietary datasets.
Ongoing legal battles highlight widespread concerns around how AI and AI orgs access content today. OpenAI and other AI firms have faced multiple lawsuits from content creators and publishers from various sectors, accusing the company of using copyrighted materials without proper licensing.
This broader trend suggests that AI companies will need to strike deals with publishers and data providers to ensure fair compensation and legal compliance. OpenAI’s statements around Deep research is yet another example of how AI-driven content aggregation is evolving — and why digital publishers must prepare for a web that is increasingly driven by AI queries.
How Dappier Helps Digital Publishers Connect to AI — and Monetize Their Data
As AI-driven research tools like deep research gain traction, digital publishers and data providers must proactively shape their role in this ecosystem. Instead of waiting for AI platforms to determine how data is accessed and monetized, content owners can take control of their own AI-ready data strategies.
This is where Dappier comes in. Dappier makes it easy for digital publishers, research firms, and data providers to monetize their proprietary content in the AI economy:
- Turn proprietary content into AI-ready RAG APIs that integrate seamlessly with AI models.
- Monetize Your Data at the point of inquiry, getting paid anytime a connected AI agent uses or surfaces your content when generating a response.
- Ensure attribution and transparency and maintain control of when AI models use their content.
AI will continue to rely on high-quality, domain-specific information — and the publishers who take proactive steps now will be the ones who profit from this transformation.
Want to learn how to monetize your data for AI? Get started with Dappier today: dappier.com/demo.
