Google to enter the AI race with Microsoft

Over the last few weeks, OpenAI has shaken the internet with ChatGPT. It is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based chatbot with versatile skills —- one that can even write research proposals and make everyday plans to specific instructions. Microsoft, a USA-based multinational technology corporation, has previously invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, tracking back to two phases in 2019 and then in 2021.

Recently, Microsoft announced this on their official blog, "We are announcing the third phase of our long-term partnership with OpenAI through a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment to accelerate AI breakthroughs to ensure these benefits are broadly shared with the world."

It has become clear that Microsoft has long-term plans with OpenAI. They can potentially have other projects, too — but OpenAI has been the one with the most limelight.

Microsoft recently published a blog on their official website that stated, "We're launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser."

It further stated this launch is to "deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience, and the ability to generate content."

As of now, it has been made available in preview mode.

While all this is happening, the CEO of Google, one of the largest multinational technology companies based in the USA, tweeted on his official account, "Coming soon: Bard, a new experimental conversational #GoogleAI service powered by LaMDA."

LaMDA stands for Google's Language Model for Dialogue Applications.

The exact offerings of Bard are still unknown to the masses, but it is clear that Google has been working extensively with AI and has a lot of potential.

The state of the current AI race

Who will eventually lead the AI race is objectively difficult to judge, as both Microsoft and Google may have hidden information, and there might be other hidden competitors as well as other arbitrary factors. Google, the company with the world's largest dataset, entering the AI race will surely elevate AI development and consumption in the coming days.

Google potentially has the largest photo dataset (Google Photos), video dataset (YouTube), and search dataset (Google search). The availability of such a high-scale dataset means Bard is likely to come out with more functioning depth based on its accessibility to more data. Moreover, as Machine Learning (ML) is a subset of AI, Google AI can likely learn and grow faster. At the same time, this can only be claimed objectively once more information is revealed.

The scope of monetisation

Priced at 20 USD per month, ChatGPT has already launched a premium mode with exclusive features for paid users in certain regions. The exclusive benefits include general access to ChatGPT during peak times, faster response times, and priority access to new features and improvements.

It is still unclear whether Google will monetize Bard since the public launch, and further details are not published. However, as Google monetised the "search" tool with paid advertisements, it would be no surprise if Bard eventually became monetised on some level in the future.