Google and Microsoft prepare dueling generative AI debuts

Google and Microsoft, in separate surprise announcements, confirmed they plan to offer dueling generative AI debuts over the next two days.

Today, Google unveiled a new ChatGPT-like chatbot named Bard, as the company races to catch up in the wake of ChatGPT’s massive viral success (growing faster than TikTok, apparently). In a blog post, CEO Sundar Pichai said Bard is now open to “trusted testers,” with plans to make it available to the public “in the coming weeks.”

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In addition, the company announced a streaming event called Live from Paris focused on “Search, Maps and beyond,” to be livestreamed on YouTube at 8:30 am ET on February 8th. According to the description: “We’re reimagining how people search for, explore and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need.”

Microsoft to hold in-person Redmond event tomorrow

Meanwhile, just minutes after Google’s announcement, Microsoft shared an announcement that it will be holding an in-person event at its Redmond headquarters tomorrow at 1 pm ET.

Microsoft is expected to unveil its long-awaited integration of generative AI from OpenAI into its search engine Bing — which supposedly will be powered by the brand-new GPT-4.

Those who spied screenshots of the new integration noted the presence of a chat box rather than a search bar.

Let the generative AI games begin!