Technology companies are increasingly pushing advances in artificial intelligence (AI) as they race to stay on the cutting edge.
OpenAI and Google made back-to-back announcements last week, announcing new features focused on how generative AI can be used in everyday life. At the same time, announcements from other companies including Meta and Microsoft, as well as Apple's announcement expected next month, highlight how the industry is leaning toward AI.
The updates released by OpenAI and Google were both primarily focused on new use cases for their respective generative AI chatbots, ChatGPT and Gemini. Rather than announcing new, more advanced AI systems, the companies showed off updates to their chatbots and how to use them, as well as tweaks to more advanced audio and visual features.
“The big tech companies are pulling out all the stops,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. “2023 was a year of exploration. 2024 will be the heyday of AI,” he added.
With new features and expanded access to ChatGPT, the website is on track to set a new record for monthly traffic, surpassing its all-time high set in May of last year before the traffic drop-off, according to data from Similarweb.
Traffic to ChatGPT averaged 17.8 million visits over the first 17 days of May, and even if traffic slows down in the final weeks of the month, the total will likely still exceed 2 billion visits, according to a Similarweb blog post analyzing the data.
Still, traffic to Google far exceeds traffic to ChatGPT's website. According to data from Similarweb, ChatGPT received a total of 1.8 billion visits in the past three months, compared to 83.5 billion visits to Google during the same period.
However, ChatGPT is also backed by veteran technology giant Microsoft. The Washington-based tech giant has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and is incorporating OpenAI's generative AI tools into its products, including Bing search.
In an announcement Monday, Microsoft unveiled Copilot+, a new category of personal computers that already have AI capabilities built-in.
“We have completely reimagined the entire PC, from the silicon to the operating system, from the application layer to the cloud, with AI at the center.This is the most significant change for the Windows platform in decades. said Microsoft Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer. the marketer said in a blog post.
In the coming weeks, Microsoft says Copilot+ PC will give users access to the latest AI models released by OpenAI, including the GPT-4o model, which was shown off at an OpenAI demo last week, where the company highlighted advances made with audio-visual interaction.
“Microsoft and [CEO Satya Nadella] We are far ahead in this AI arms race. “Not just Microsoft's efforts, but the partnership with OpenAI as well,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
But Ives said Google is “closing the gap.”
Google's announcements at its developer conference last week focused on how the company aims to incorporate more AI tools into its existing products, primarily its web search engine. The tech giant plans to further roll out the use of his Gemini AI in the search space, including through “AI Oversights,” which will provide users with more complete answers to their queries. The update also includes the ability to send queries to Gemini through video.
Google and OpenAI are approaching generative AI from “different perspectives,” said Baruch Toledano, vice president and general manager of digital marketing solutions at Similarweb.
He said that while OpenAI appears to be moving towards a future where it creates more unique, specific, large-scale language models and allows others to participate in the ecosystem by building on top of what it creates, Google “continues to offer a broad range of language models,” providing different experiences and building on its existing suite of well-known services.
Liz Reid, Google's head of search, said the Gemini update is a way for Google to “reimagine search for the Gemini era.” The company also announced plans to bring Gemini's features to other Google services, including Gmail.
Other companies are also hinting at further advances in AI.
Meta announced last week that it was cutting its Workplace app to shift its focus to AI and metaverse technology.
Ives said Meta's decision was “the right strategic move” and will be key to monetizing advertising and further growth.
Apple's developer conference is scheduled for the week of June 10th, and the company is expected to make announcements about how it is incorporating AI into its products.
Bloomberg reported that Apple has reached an agreement with OpenAI to use the company's AI technology in iOS 18, the next version of the iPhone's software. Spokespeople for Apple and OpenAI did not respond to requests for comment on the reported partnership.
Daron Acemoglu, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the OpenAI update, which kicks off two weeks of company announcements about AI capabilities, is “not transformative in any way yet.” But the gradual transition is putting pressure on lawmakers to take action to develop regulations to address how AI will impact the workforce, democracy, and broader issues. , he added.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York unveiled a long-awaited bipartisan AI report that includes guidance for congressional committees on actions to regulate AI. However, the report did not endorse or endorse any particular bill, infuriating many civil society groups and technology advocates who had called for more aggressive action.
“I think the U.S. Senate is in a much better position today than it was two years ago, three years ago, from a competitive standpoint. But the proof is in the pudding,” Acemoglu said.
“I think we're already behind there,” Acemoglu added.
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