one year on
Google announces Bard, an experimental conversational AI service, to counter ChatGPT
CEO Sundar Pichai unveils a LaMDA-powered chatbot opening to trusted testers in the coming weeks, as the company races to respond to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Google today announced Bard, an experimental conversational AI service powered by its LaMDA language model, as the company rushes to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. CEO Sundar Pichai said the service will open to trusted testers before becoming more widely available in the coming weeks.
CNBC reported last week that Google declared a ‘code red’ and internally tested a chatbot called Apprentice Bard. Pichai emphasized that the initial version uses a lightweight LaMDA model requiring less compute power, allowing the company to scale testing and gather feedback.
In a blog post, Pichai framed Bard as a creative outlet and launchpad for curiosity, giving examples like explaining NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope discoveries to a 9-year-old. He also said AI-powered features will soon appear in Google Search to distill complex information.
Google has long positioned itself as an AI pioneer, and CNBC reported last week that employees raised concerns about the company’s competitive edge in AI after ChatGPT’s sudden popularity. The company says it will continue to develop AI responsibly.
The record
Reported that Google's AI chief Jeff Dean told employees the company has more reputational risk in providing wrong information and thus is moving more conservatively than a small startup.
Noted that the announcement confirms prior reporting of a 'code red' plan at Google to respond to ChatGPT, including testing a chatbot called Apprentice Bard.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
The service rolled out more broadly in March 2023, but Google's AI push continued to be overshadowed by OpenAI's GPT-4 and Microsoft's Bing Chat throughout the year.