Google’s AI Chatbot ‘Bard’ Blunder: Investors Fuming As Share Price Plummets

Google, the search engine giant, recently announced a series of AI-powered features, however, an error in an ad caused its share price to drop significantly. Google is working to preserve its dominance in the web search industry as AI bots are quickly becoming integrated into search engines.

Google Unveils AI-Powered Bard, Rushing to Keep Pace with Microsoft’s Partnership with OpenAI

Microsoft recently announced a multi-billion-dollar partnership with OpenAI, the creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, and unveiled new products. Google, in an effort to keep up with Microsoft, announced its own AI alternative, Bard, the day before.

Astronomers Spot Error in Bard Ad, Causing Share Price to Tank

Astronomers on Twitter quickly pointed out a mistake in an ad for Bard on Twitter. The ad featured the bot being asked about what to tell a nine-year-old about discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope, to which it incorrectly responded that the telescope was the first to take pictures of a planet outside of Earth’s solar system. This mistake caused Google’s share price to drop by more than seven percent.

Also Read: Google Bard AI: Google Unveils Bard, Its Answer to ChatGPT

Google VP Invalidates Rushing Bard Announcement Microsoft’s pressure has caused

Google Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan stated at an event in Paris that Bard was currently being used by “trusted testers” but did not give a timeline for a public release, which is expected to be within weeks. Analysts have suggested that Google rushed its announcement due to pressure from Microsoft, however, Raghavan denies these claims, stating that this has been a multi-year journey and no single event dramatically changed the course of Google’s plans.

Google and Microsoft Both Integrating AI into Products

Google executives announced AI-induced improvements across various products including maps, translation, and its image recognition tool Lens. Microsoft has similarly stated that it will incorporate AI into its Office suite and Teams messaging app, putting it on a collision course with Google as it aims to improve its much-maligned Bing search engine.

Google’s dominance is in danger as AI chatbots like ChatGPT are on the rise

AI chatbots like ChatGPT hold the potential to supply users with ready-made answers from multiple sources, replacing the familiar list of links and ads that have been Google’s main source of income for two decades. The overnight success of ChatGPT was deemed a “code red” threat at Google, leading to the return of its founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, to brainstorm ideas and fast-track a response. The pressure to act was heightened last week when Google parent Alphabet posted disappointing results and announced the layoff of 12,000 employees.