The race for AI dominance is on. Google seems to be feeling the heat from the sudden interest in AI-enabled chatbot systems, in particular - OpenAI's ChatGPT. According to a recent report from The New York Times, Google has earmarked plans to "showcase a version of its search engine with chatbot features this year" along with more than 20 AI-powered projects, all of which will help boost its existing portfolio and take on the rising threat.
The latest updates come just a month after a high-profile Google management announced a "code red" to battle OpenAI's popular AI chatbot. Adding to Google's concerns, Microsoft recently announced its third round of partnership with Open-AI creator of ChatGPT and supposedly has plans to integrate ChatGPT into its search engine, Bing. But the tech giant will face some stiff competition.
The wheel of chatbot search engine development at Google is starting to turn, as the organization recently asked co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for help. The New York Times reports that both Page and Brin were called upon to "advise" company executives and discuss different approaches to countering the growing competition. The report states that Google's demo of the chatbot will focus on "getting the facts right, ensuring safety and weeding out misinformation."
Based on the slides seen by the Times, Google is currently working hard to develop a range of AI projects. Some of the products in development include an image builder that "creates and edits images", an app for testing product prototypes, and a TikTok-inspired green screen mode for YouTube. However, Google is being somewhat cautious with the launch of new AI technology and is devising ways to ramp up product approval processes, including reviews to ensure the AI-powered technology is fair and ethical. The company plans to showcase all of this and more at its upcoming I/O conference in May.
This move seems to show that Google is aware of the rise of ChatGPT and wants to get ahead of the trend as soon as possible. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has gone so far as to say that the company is preparing to show "some entirely new experiences to users, developers, and businesses," however, it has not come without a cost. Google recently came under scrutiny for drastically cutting its workforce, laying off more than 12,000 employees.
“I am confident in the tremendous opportunity ahead of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI,” CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a note to employees. "To fully capture it, we'll need to make tough choices."
These tough choices have certainly proven unpopular with workers, but the future remains uncertain. With Microsoft going full steam ahead with AI and Google struggling to stay up to date, the online battle is only heating up.