Still early days, but I'm liking #Stract ... a new stand-alone search engine being developed by one person and (last I heard) run on a server in his basement.
#404Media also just published an article extolling a paid SE called #Kagi ... not sure I'm "there" yet (paying for search), but it sounds promising.
Oh yeah ... https://stract.com/
Hmm ... actually, even better, start here ... https://stract.com/about
@ErictheCerise I actually want to pay for search, as that's the only way the incentives align correctly for the search provider in this late stage capitalist dystopia, but Kagi had their… Brave moment and also implement AI crap:
https://neilzone.co.uk/2024/01/from-kagi-back-to-duckduckgo/
https://help.kagi.com/kagi/ai/assistant.html