AI Chatbots Cross 5% of U.S. Desktop Search Traffic

AI-powered chatbots have captured more than 5% of U.S. desktop search traffic, signaling accelerated adoption of conversational information retrieval. The shift outpaced most industry forecasts, driven by enterprise integration rather than consumer experimentation. Startups including Exa, Profound, and You.com are raising Series B capital to scale infrastructure, while Nvidia backs Exa's $85 million round, betting on production-ready AI search becoming foundational enterprise infrastructure.