Earlier this year, Microsoft enhanced its Bing search engine with OpenAI’s GPT. The release reportedly set off alarm bells at Google due to the risks it poses to its core search and advertising business.

Google has been working on its own AI-powered features for its search engine under a project codenamed Magi, according to a report citing internal documents.

Ads will continue to be shown in search results generated by Magi, especially those that could lead to a financial transaction. Magi will simply focus on improving Google’s existing search engine features with AI capabilities

The project reportedly involves a team of about 160 engineers working to tweak and test the latest versions of the tool. The capabilities are “being created by designers, engineers, and executives working in so-called sprint rooms to tweak and test the latest versions.”

Google is planning a public release of the tool next month in a limited capacity. Around one million people will get to access the project’s features as part of the first batch. Around 30 million users are expected to have access by the end of the year.

Microsoft has been investing heavily in AI research and development through OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. This investment has given Microsoft an edge in developing AI products, which Google is now seeking to compete with.

A last-minute event was held by Google the day after Microsoft held an event to announce the GPT-enhanced Bing search engine and Edge browser. Google’s event was a mess. Previous announcements were rehashed, a presenter’s phone went missing, and CEO Sundar Pichai was nowhere to be seen.

Googlers took to the internal forum ‘Memegen’ to criticise Pichai’s leadership. One wrote, “Dear Sundar, the Bard launch and the layoffs were rushed, botched, and myopic” and called on Pichai to “please return to taking a long-term outlook.”

In the month after Microsoft released its AI-enhanced Bing, users surged to over 100 million for the first time.

“Of the millions of active users of the new Bing preview, it’s great to see that roughly one-third are new to Bing,” wrote Yusuf Mehdi, Head of Bing at Microsoft, in a blog post.

“We see this appeal of the new Bing as a validation of our view that search is due for a reinvention and of the unique value proposition of combining Search + Answers + Chat + Creation in one experience.”

Project Magi will be seen as an opportunity for Google to get back on its feet and prove it hasn’t fallen behind Microsoft.

(Image Credit: Google)

Related: Google plays it safe with initial Bard rollout

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The ChatGPT rival was announced via a blog post in February, seemingly to get ahead of Microsoft’s own big reveal event the next day.

Microsoft’s plans to integrate a new version of ChatGPT into its Bing search engine set off alarm bells at Google. In response, Google CEO Sundar Pichai invited the company’s founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – to return for a series of meetings to review its AI strategy.

In stark contrast to Microsoft’s polished event, a last-minute event held by Google the day after was a mess. Previous announcements were rehashed, a presenter’s phone went missing, and Pichai was nowhere to be seen.

Googlers took to the internal forum ‘Memegen’ to criticise Pichai’s leadership. One wrote, “Dear Sundar, the Bard launch and the layoffs were rushed, botched, and myopic” and called on Pichai to “please return to taking a long-term outlook.”

During a Bard promo video, an incorrect answer was shown that sent Google’s shares plummeting and wiped $120 billion from its value.

Google AI Chief Jeff Dean had allegedly even warned colleagues ahead of the reveal that it cannot rush products like Bard to the market because the company has more “reputational risk” in providing wrong information.

The contrast between Microsoft’s and Google’s announcements was stark. Microsoft looked unstoppable while Google appeared to be in absolute chaos. However, things shifted in the coming weeks.

Users began reporting “unhinged” responses from Microsoft’s chatbot—including not just incorrect information, but also the bot appearing to be in a depressive state, wanting to be human, and even claiming to spy on people through their webcams.

Suddenly, that one error in Bard’s promo video didn’t look so bad. Furthermore, it justified Google’s decision to hold fire on releasing Bard to the public.

Google now appears to be comfortable with Bard being ready for public testing:

“Our work on Bard is guided by our AI Principles, and we continue to focus on quality and safety,” wrote Google in a blog post.

“We’re using human feedback and evaluation to improve our systems, and we’ve also built in guardrails, like capping the number of exchanges in a dialogue, to try to keep interactions helpful and on topic.”

In a quick test, Bard (left of screenshot) is subjectively more concise with its responses than Bing (right of screenshot) while the latter is slightly more comprehensive:

However, there are currently a few key differences:

• Bing’s chatbot wants to continue the conversation and suggests possible follow-up questions.
• Bing’s chatbot makes it clear where it’s getting its information so users can get more background.
• Bard reminds the user before starting a conversation that it has “limitations” and “won’t always get it right”. Furthermore, the page always displays a warning that Bard “may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views.”

You can sign up to try Bard here. Google is currently rolling out access in the US and UK but will be expanding to other countries and languages over time.

(Image Credit: Google)

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Microsoft’s alternative, ChatGPT, set off alarm bells at Google. In response, Pichai invited Google founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – to return for a series of meetings to review the company’s AI strategy.

Following those meetings, it was clear that Google intended to get its AI products to market faster. The company allegedly decided to speed up its AI review process to that end.

However, it’s worth noting that Google AI Chief Jeff Dean told employees at the time that the company has more “reputational risk” in providing wrong information. That’s worth remembering for a bit later.

Rumours that Microsoft was to integrate a new version of ChatGPT, powered by GPT-4, into Bing appeared to turn the alarm bells at Google into a full-blown siren.

Google announced a relatively last-minute AI event in what was widely perceived to be an attempt to get the jump on Microsoft’s announcement. Microsoft then announced an even more last-minute event.

A day before Microsoft’s event, Pichai published a blog post to announce Bard. Google technically beat Microsoft to its announcements but the post largely just sounded like it was playing catch-up to ChatGPT rather than offering anything new.

Microsoft’s event the next day stole the spotlight. The latest version of ChatGPT, integrated with Bing and Edge – with Office and more on the horizon – proved to be impressive. Within 48 hours, more than one million people registered to test it. Despite being last-minute, the event was polished.

Next up was Google’s event. What was presented wasn’t bad, per se, but largely rehashed previous announcements in what felt like an attempt to remind people that Google hasn’t been left behind in AI.

However, the main issue with Google’s event is that – off the back of Microsoft’s – it just felt rushed. That somewhat culminated when a presenter’s phone went missing so a live demo couldn’t take place.

While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was on-stage at the company’s own event looking relaxed and cracking jokes, Pichai was nowhere to be seen at Google’s counterpart.

Googlers took to the internal forum ‘Memegen’ to criticise Pichai’s leadership. One wrote, “Dear Sundar, the Bard launch and the layoffs were rushed, botched, and myopic” and called on Pichai to “please return to taking a long-term outlook.”

A promo video for Bard showed the chatbot giving a wrong answer:

Such a blunder in a pre-recorded clip, where it’s obvious the chatbot’s answers will be heavily scrutinised, really highlights why Googlers are so concerned about the firm’s current strategy.

Investors also gave their verdict on the proceedings. Following Google’s event, the company’s shares plunged almost 10 percent—shedding $120 billion off the company’s value. As of writing, the company’s shares have declined a further four percent.

“Rushing Bard to market in a panic validated the market’s fear about us,” another Googler wrote on Memegen.

Some Googlers were allegedly unaware of the event taking place at all. The majority appear to wish they could erase the event from everyone’s memory and give Bard the launch it really deserves.

(Image Credit: Maurizio Pesce under CC BY 2.0 license)

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London.

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