Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot has just leveled up — this week, it quietly introduced a web search capability, putting it in direct competition with other AI platforms offering real-time information retrieval. But while Anthropic kept the technology behind this feature under wraps, new clues point to Brave Search as the engine driving these results.
Software engineer Antonio Zugaldia was the first to spot the change on Friday. Anthropic had updated its official documentation, adding “Brave Search” to its subprocessor list — the section naming third-party partners handling Claude’s data. That subtle update suggests Brave is now playing a crucial role in powering Claude’s web searches.
British developer Simon Willison added more weight to this theory. After running several test searches, he noticed that both Claude and Brave returned identical citations — a strong hint they share the same search backend. Digging deeper, Willison also found a parameter named “BraveSearchParams” embedded in Claude’s web search function, further confirming Brave’s involvement.
At the time of writing, Anthropic has not responded to requests for comment. However, if confirmed, this partnership could mark a significant step in Anthropic’s strategy to enhance Claude’s ability to fetch fresh and relevant web data.
Interestingly, Brave Search has already been tapped by other AI platforms. Just last month, French AI firm Mistral revealed that its chatbot, Le Chat, integrates Brave’s search API to serve real-time web results. That partnership demonstrated Brave’s growing influence as a search provider for AI systems prioritizing privacy and transparency.
It’s common for AI companies to keep the specifics of their search partners hidden, often citing competitive reasons. OpenAI, for instance, is known to use Microsoft’s Bing for ChatGPT’s web browsing but has also hinted at sourcing data from other undisclosed providers.
As competition intensifies in the AI space, partnerships like these — especially with privacy-centric players like Brave — could shape how users access and trust real-time information through chatbots.
