According to reports, Google is scrambling to integrate AI into its range of products in an effort to keep up with rivals like OpenAI’s infamous ChatGPT and Microsoft’s “unhinged” Bing AI.
Bloomberg reports that Google is working hard to catch up to its competitors in the field of generative AI, including OpenAI and Microsoft, according to Breitbart News.
Despite being incredibly advanced, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been immensely popular.
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Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, said that the impact of ChatGPT will be “more profound than fire or electricity,” prompting Google to scramble to catch up.
Yet, the rapid success of OpenAI has given Google the perception that it may be losing momentum in a field it had previously considered a critical strength. Most of the research underpinning the current craze of AI-powered chatbots was undertaken at Google’s labs.
A “code red” issued by management requires all of the company’s most important products with more than a billion users to include generative AI over the next six months.
According to one former employee, the mobilization around the drive for generative AI at Google has caused Pichai to start commenting directly on product features, reliving his days as a product manager.
The company previously experienced a significant failure when its initial, hurried AI presentation provided the incorrect response to a question, resulting in a $100 billion loss in market value of the internet giant in a single day.
Google’s drive for AI inclusion has already started with its statement that viewers of its YouTube video platform would soon be able to virtually switch between outfits.
While some Google employees are ecstatic about the project, others are concerned that it may repeat the company’s history of engaging in speculative research only to fail to commercialize it.
The mobilization surrounding Google’s drive for generative AI is similar to the company’s drive to integrate social components into each of its core products beginning in 2011 with Google+. Although there is no denying Google’s leadership in AI, it has never been considered as the social networking leader.
Current and former Google employees believe that some evaluations and reviews will likely be affected by their ability to apply generative AI to their work.
Google Isn’t Alone in It’s Rush Toward AI
It’s not just Google that thinks AI will be important in the future. Businesses are witnessing surging stock values after unveiling AI integrations, and venture capitalists and company owners in Silicon Valley have suddenly proclaimed themselves to be AI visionaries, moving their emphasis away from current obsessions like the blockchain.
Recently, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, changed the company’s emphasis away from the metaverse, which he said was so crucial to the company that it required a name change, and toward AI.
