Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, recently announced plans to incorporate its Bard AI technology into Google's search engine. This move will allow users to ask questions and interact with large language models (LLMs) in the context of search. However, Pichai did not disclose when this integration will take place.
Google has been slower to integrate AI into its products compared to Microsoft. In February, Microsoft incorporated ChatGPT into Bard and made it available to the public. However, the AI made factual errors during its first public demo, causing Microsoft's stock to plunge by $100 billion.
Although Google has been a champion of AI for years, generative AI, which allows for technology to carry on a conversation with users, has been slower to emerge. This created an opportunity for OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
It is essential for Google to proceed cautiously in shaking up its search engine. Google search was responsible for $162 billion in earnings last year, more than any other division at Alphabet. Bard is still in the early stages at Google, and users must join a waitlist to interact with it, which can take weeks.
Part of the hesitation to fully integrate Bard into Google's search engine seems to be the cost. The computing power required to duplicate human conversation is significant, and cost-cutting measures earlier this year resulted in 10,000 Alphabet employees losing their jobs. Therefore, the company is taking measured steps with its expansion.
Pichai referred to Bard as an "experiment" in a public description, but he indicated that the company has significant plans for the technology. Ultimately, he believes it "will be more accessible than people expect."