Google is officially working on a ChatGPT competitor dubbed “Bard,” according to a blog post published today by CEO Sundar Pichai, in the latest sign of a growing AI gold rush in the tech industry.
The tool will be powered by the company’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) — yes, the same one that one of its engineers said had come to life last year, prompting the company to fire him.
The news comes after Pichai reportedly issued a “code red” late last year over the astonishing rise in popularity of OpenAI’s blockbuster chatbot.
“Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a nine-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills,” the blog post reads.
Google Chat (GPT)
Bard will be limited to being an “experimental conversational AI service,” according to Pichai, that can do anything from planning a baby shower to comparing two Oscar-nominated movies, according to a screenshot.
Whether it can carve out market share while delivering a quality product is anyone’s guess, though.
Google recently laid off around 12,000 workers, while also doubling down on its investments in AI. Over the weekend, news broke that Google was to invest $300 million in AI firm Anthropic, which was founded by former OpenAI researchers.
The company will be live-streaming a 40-minute event all about AI on Wednesday, so we will likely hear more about it then.
Source: Google Officially Announces ChatGPT Competitor Called “Bard”