I don't think the ideas matter. It's even possible (though unlikely) OpenAI could have some great new angle on social search or whatever you're suggesting that makes them big money. The point is that it's tangential to the need for bigger and bigger AI advances that are already priced into the market. If there's an indication that's stalling, the industry will feel it hard, regardless of whether someone invents a better search engine.
I hoped that google would add a way to chat on websites with likeminded people in their browser and to merge it somehow with groups and search history.
It's more organic than tweeter/X and something that should be built-in part of web IMO.
The problem is probably that without accounts you can't fight with bots easily
They could do a Group feature or social/community formation feature around people with similar questions close by etc.