Yahoo unveils Scout, its AI engine for answers, not links

CALIFORNIA: Yahoo is stepping back into the search spotlight with Scout, a new AI-powered answer engine designed to give users clarity, not clutter. Launched in beta in the US, Yahoo Scout swaps endless links for clear, conversational answers that aim to make everyday decisions quicker and easier.

Built on more than three decades of Yahoo’s search history, data and user insights, Scout pulls together information from the open web alongside Yahoo’s own trusted content. The result is a streamlined experience that explains, compares and contextualises topics ranging from stock movements and sports scores to shopping choices and travel plans.

Instead of serving up blue links, Scout responds in plain language, presenting information through neat summaries, lists, tables and rich media. Sources are shown clearly, helping users understand not just what the answer is, but where it comes from.

Scout is already being rolled out across Yahoo Search and its wider ecosystem, including Mail, News, Finance and Sports, reaching Yahoo’s nearly 250 million users in the US on both mobile and desktop.

At the heart of Scout is Yahoo’s vast data backbone. The system draws on hundreds of millions of user profiles, a knowledge graph covering over a billion entities and trillions of annual user interactions. This allows Scout to tailor answers and suggest actions that feel timely and relevant.

Yahoo is also positioning Scout as more than a search tool. Alongside the launch, the company introduced the Yahoo Scout Intelligence Platform, which powers smart features across its products. These include AI summaries in mail, game breakdowns in sports, key takeaways in news and deeper analysis tools in finance.

New features are already rolling out. Yahoo Shopping uses Scout to condense hours of product research into quick comparisons and clear recommendations. In Yahoo Finance, Scout delivers real-time analysis of stocks, earnings and market moves, updating frequently to explain what is happening and why. Comment summaries now also distil large discussion threads into quick snapshots of public opinion.

Behind the scenes, Yahoo has partnered with Anthropic, using its Claude model as Scout’s primary AI engine, and continues its long-standing collaboration with Microsoft through Bing’s grounding API. These partnerships are intended to balance speed, reasoning and safety, while keeping answers rooted in authoritative sources.

Scout is available now in beta at scout.yahoo.com and via the Yahoo Search app on iOS and Android. Over the coming months, Yahoo plans to make the experience more personalised, deepen its vertical features and explore new ways for advertisers to adapt to AI-led search.

In a world tired of tab-hopping, Yahoo is betting that the future of search is not about finding links, but finding sense.