Post
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="128" height="128"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Ethan Mollick
@emollick.bsky.social
OpenAI’s deep research is very good. Unlike Google’s version, which is mostly a good summarizer of many sources, OpenAI is more like engaging an opinionated (often almost PhD-level!) researcher who follows lead.
Look at how it hunts down a concept in the literature (& works around problems)
February 2, 2025 at 4:12 PM
6 reposts
1 quote
58 likes
If you want an overview, Google’s version is really good. If you want a researcher to go digging through a few sources, getting into the details but being very opinionated, you want OpenAI’s
Neither has access to paywalled research & publications which limits them (for now)
Given openAI's questionable history with copyright, surprised they haven't taught deep research to use scihub for paywalled journal articles
I’m curious as to what makes you say use the characterization
of “PhD-level.” It seems like it is doing a good job of summarizing concepts and finding academic sources in your example, but can you describe what made you choose that characterization?
How do you know it's doing what it says it's doing?
(I'm not disputing. I'm curious if there are other indications besides what you posted)
You get the cites and links to sources and specific details
