Yahoo launches 'Scout,' an AI answer engine powered by Anthropic's Claude

Yahoo has announced a new AI-powered answer engine called “Yahoo Scout.” The tool is now available in beta and is powered by Anthropic’s Claude.

The company states that Scout “synthesizes” information from the web, along with its own data and content, to respond to us to make language search queries. It explains that the interface will feature interactive digital media, structured lists and tables, and visible source links to make answers easier to verify.

Alongside Scout, the internet services company is launching an intelligence platform across its various products. This will include features such as AI summaries in Yahoo Mail, “key takeaways” in Yahoo News, and game breakdowns in Yahoo Sports.

Scout will also integrate into Yahoo Shopping to provide insights and shoppable links, and into Yahoo Finance, where it can populate company financials, analyst ratings, and explain stock movements as they happen.

The company states that the answer engine behind Scout will become more personalized and focus on deeper experiences over time.

In 2023, Google previewed its generative AI capabilities in search, and by the following year, AI features for search were widely available in the U.S. The company has also been actively integrating its AI model throughout its product portfolio, including Gmail and shopping services.