AI of the tiger… Google, in a (sort of) cautious sprint to maintain its search dominance, is planning to launch a batch of AI-powered search features, The New York Times reported. The botty features (codename: “Magi”) are set to be rolled out to 1M US users next month — and 30M by year’s end. Google’s testing the waters for its broader plan to launch a brand-new engine:
- New-gle: There’s no ETA for Google’s AI-powered search engine, but it would reportedly be more conversational and personalized, and anticipate what users want to see based on past searches.
- Slew-gle: Google’s working on slew of other AI projects, including a tool to generate images in Google Image results, a language-learning chatbot called Tivoli Tutor, and a Chrome assistant called Searchalong.
Bot anxiety… The AI race poses a serious threat to Google’s $162B search business, and rivals like Microsoft's Bing chatbot apparently have the company panicking. News that Samsung might make Bing the default search engine on its devices — a potential $3B loss in revenue — sent Google stock sliding as much as 4% yesterday. A similar Apple contract, worth $20B, is up for renewal this year. Losing its default status on devices like iPhones and Galaxy phones would be devastating for Google.
It’s hard to stop midrace… Hurtling ahead to keep up with the AI pack, Google says it’s trying to move rapidly, safely, and ethically all at once — a tough needle to thread. In a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday, CEO Sundar Pichai warned against rushing out AI products without regulation. But that might be hard to do with competitors bolting ahead.