I used to be extremely stunned to see the headline Google VP Says Bard Chatbot Wasn’t Rushed Out to Beat Microsoft on Bloomberg (warning: paywalled).
That Google VP is Elizabeth Reid, the vp and GM of Search. She spoke yesterday on the ongoing U.S. vs. Google antitrust hearing.
Why we care. If Google fails to acknowledge what it seemed like from everybody watching, they’re basically dwelling within the land of different information. Which, in case you forgot, are referred to as lies. For an organization that preaches about how “trustworthiness” is a very powerful a part of E-E-A-T, they actually should show some.
The AI Search race. February was probably the most memorable occasions in all of Search. I bear in mind it effectively.
Maybe the worst-kept secret then was that Microsoft Bing was about to announce a brand new AI-powered model of Bing, powered by OpenAI’s know-how that was powering the most well liked new factor on this planet – ChatGPT. We first reported on this Jan. 4 in Microsoft to add ChatGPT features to Bing Search.
Search Engine Land’s Barry Schwartz was invited by Microsoft on Thursday, Feb. 2 to an unique briefing scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 7 in Redmond, Wash. The invite even stated there have been no plans to livestream this occasion – although that shortly developed right into a special press event.
Why? Google, that’s why. Out of the blue, Google has enormous embargoed information to share. That information – the announcement of Google’s ChatGPT competitor, an experiment called Bard – went stay on Monday, Feb. 6, lower than 24 hours earlier than Microsoft’s occasion.
Press protection referred to as Google’s information a rushed announcement as a result of it clearly was. Google, at this level, had no product to share. Bard was vaporware, supposedly being launched to “trusted testers.”
Google Bard fumbles early. Google then held a public demonstration during which Bard obtained the primary reply improper about NASA’s James Webb House Telescope – an early warning of hallucinations that LLMs produce. Alphabet paid an enormous value, shedding $100 billion in market value.
Google disagrees. Reid testified that Bard wasn’t rushed out as a result of Microsoft was planning to announce its generative AI tackle search.
- “I don’t suppose you may make that conclusion. Microsoft’s announcement additionally had a number of errors in it. The know-how could be very nascent. It makes errors. That’s why we’ve been hesitant to place it ahead,” Reid stated.
Sure, so hesitant, that Google rushed to upstage Microsoft with its Bard information, lower than a day earlier than its largest Search announcement in years.
You shopping for this? As a result of I certain ain’t.
