• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

Brave, a Google Search alternative and maker of an AI-based browser, announced on Monday it is adding a feature to its AI-powered search suite.

The feature, “Ask Brave,” provides detailed answers on topic-based queries. The interface consolidates its search AI Answers feature introduced last year with AI chat, and is available on the Brave Search home page.

The search engine will automatically recognize the type of query the person asks, and provide a response without switching modes to the Ask Brave feature, pulling answers from videos, web pages, and a variety of products.

AI Answers provide users with quick summaries, while Ask Brave provides longer answers, follow-ups, and a chat mode enhanced with Deep Research, explained Brave Chief of Search Josep M. Pujol in a post.

The first version served more than 15 million answers per day. Ask Brave is the next iteration of this experience. Chats are encrypted, ephemeral and expire by default after 24 hours of inactivity. IP addresses are not retained. 

Ask Brave is built on Brave's recent grounding technology for the Search API, which the company announced in August.

This Deep Research technique leverages multiple rounds of Brave's search data against what it calls “junk-free index” of more than 35 billion webpages.

The system has been designed to iteratively cover blind spots, issuing dozens of queries and analyzing thousands of pages so users receive the most thorough and informed responses available.