Google's parent company Alphabet experienced a 7.7% drop in its stock prices on Wall Street, resulting in a $144 billion loss in market value. The cause of this sudden shift? A demonstration of Alphabet's new artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard. Bard's reveal was met with criticism due to one of its responses being inaccurate, prompting investors to be concerned about the tech giant's standing in the future of internet search.
The demonstration has caused speculation around the threat to Google's search business, which is the company's main moneymaker. OpenAI's wildly popular chatbot, ChatGPT, is a major contender in the tech industry and Microsoft has recently announced their investment in the AI start-up as well as their new version of Bing search engine and Edge browser.
Google has released a statement regarding Bard's response, highlighting the importance of a rigorous testing process. Google plans to use external feedbacks combined with their own internal testing to ensure that Bard's results are of high quality and are grounded in real-world information.
The competition to build the most accurate and effective search engine is intensifying. Professor Mark Riedl from the Georgia Institute of Technology believes that the rise of OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing have created a narrative of Google's search model being under threat.
Alphabet's stock prices drop is a result of this competition in the tech industry and sparks worry for Google's future. Google's search business is the company's lifeblood and any threats to that could be catastrophic. Google is taking steps to ensure that Bard's responses are of high quality and are reflective of accurate real-world information. It is uncertain how the future of Google and its search model will turn out, but for now all we can do is wait and watch.