Microsoft announced Tuesday the integration of ChatGPT’s viral AI chatbot from OpenAI, into its Bing search engine . This is the first time that Microsoft could directly challenge search giant Google.
When ChatGPT creator OpenAI was first launched, Microsoft invested over $1 billion and has since contributed $10 billion. Insiders felt that the threat of an OpenAI/Microsoft partnership would be a significant factor in the first time since the 1960s that Google would feel the need to improve. This dream is now a reality.
Wedbush sent a note to clients following Microsoft’s announcement stating that it believes Bing’s ChatGPT integration will “challenge the web search market by grabbing share as users see increased benefits, and a new experience.”
Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman stated that “It has been a long time since search was disrupted” and that the announcement of Microsoft Bing powered by ChatGPT, the next iteration, appears to be the first to challenge Google’s unchallenged number 1 market position.
ChatGPT is pushing Microsoft and Bing forwards, but Google has been reminding everyone that the AI thing has been around for a while. OpenAI’s founders were former employees of Google. The “T” in “GPT”, which stands for “Transformers”, is an AI technique that was invented by the search giant.
Sundar Pichai, Alphabet CEO, stated during the fourth-quarter earnings conference that more AI-powered features will be coming to Google products. The company will host an event in Paris on Wednesday to showcase it. Google also announced Bard, a ChatGPT competitor, this week.
It’s not just Google. Bloomberg reported Chinese internet company Baidu’s stock rose after it announced its generative AI, Ernie Bot.
Microsoft may be the leader in AI search for now, but it will lose its advantage if the competition has anything to say.
Analysts at Guggenheim Research stated that they believe these technologies will be used by all vendors. They also wonder if Microsoft could realize an outsized advantage relative to other vendors.
For decades, Bing has been second only to Google Search. Bing is estimated to have a 9.9% market share in search traffic. Google has an estimated 80% market share.
Microsoft promises that Bing, the new and more powerful version of Bing, will offer new features to users. It will suggest brands and travel destinations via asking questions in simple language. This will allow users to find information quicker while using fewer keywords.
Microsoft expressed interest in integrating ChatGPT into Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Google is still ready to fight, despite its large war chest and rich history of developing AI in-house. Google intends to add ChatGPT to its suite of software including Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Docs, in a similar fashion to Microsoft’s master plans.
Erik Hamilton, the head of Good Apple’s search for marketing agency, said that Google tools like the Google Chrome browser have many fans and that the AI tools will help to keep them around, rather than risk their defection to Microsoft.
In other words, unless Microsoft is able to attract many Bing users quickly using these new AI capabilities with Microsoft, analysts believe that Google can catch up so fast that it will render the first-mover advantage null and void. We’ll also see the same dynamic between the two companies.
Microsoft may have finally had the opportunity to challenge Google’s dominance. But the real winner of all this back-and-forth is AI.
Analysts at Guggenheim stated that Microsoft’s efforts as a technology giant will likely encourage further use of AI and machine-learning in the industry. However, it won’t likely impact financials for many to come, if ever, analysts said.
Google announced that Bard, a ChatGPT-like botbot, will be available for public use in February as part of the AI wars. Google is preparing to fight the next wave of Microsoft AI by releasing AI to Gmail, Google Docs and AI-enhanced searches results.