Web search is optional grounding, not the whole product. New runs start with grounding off. Turn it on so the population sees what already exists.

Grounding on (Scout)

When Web grounding is on, the lab searches the public web once up front (Scout) and compresses hits into a short evidence pack. Casting and divergence see that context. Later, finalists can get an assumption check against those sources. This pass is meant to be cheap: it does not grow linearly with population size, and it is not “deep research.”

Turn grounding off if you want a faster run, you are exploring a private or fictional brief, or you will research only the minds you click.

Click a mind

After nodes exist, click one. That seat can run web search for everyone signed in (hosted trial included). It is a bounded lookup as that perspective — useful when you want sources for one idea, not for the whole field.

Deep research

Deep research is a longer, more expensive search loop on a clicked mind. It stays behind a saved Cerebras key and an explicit opt-in on that seat. The hosted trial does not unlock it. Use it when one finalist needs a harder look at the web, not as the default for every node.

What this is not

The lab does not browse the web as 500 independent agents. Scout is one shared pass. Per-mind search is something you start on purpose. Treat citations as leads to check, not as proof.