有一个微信，Sam Altman说

chatGPT does not search on the web for answers, chatGPT uses their openAI to search for answers. (not exact words, but the meaning only).

I think this is correct. 

Check  my questions and answers from chatGTP, which indicate chatGPT had not searched for answers from other websites, otherwise, they could get answers quickly and correctly. But tchatGPT could not answer my questions. So chatGPT is not a search engine. chatGPT could never replace Google, which is a search engine. chatGPT could never replace wikipedia either. My understanding is that chatGPT is mimicking human thinking, mimicking human brain.

The model for chatGPT is based on a method of "training"【1】, in which one person asks a question, 7-8 people answer the question and openAI chooses the best answer and the answer is the one you and me see from chatGPT's answer block.

the following is from the web:

"How Does ChatGPT Work? ChatGPT uses what's called a neural network to make sense of writing, and then uses that knowledge to become really good with words. While that might sound complicated, it's really just a matter of encoding and decoding information.Feb 3, 2023"

【1】https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT?