Microsoft’s Bing search has been “looking over the shoulder” of Google since its launch in 2009. But this time, Microsoft sees a great opportunity to take down Google in artificial intelligence (AI).
Microsoft challenges Google’s supremacy with ChatGPT
Yesterday, Microsoft announced the integration of OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, into its Bing search engine, in what could be the software giant’s first chance to directly challenge search giant Google.
Millennium second
Although Bing ranks second in the global search market, it is far behind Google. According to data released by the statistical agency StatCounter, in January 2023, Google’s share of the global search engine market will be as high as 92.9%, while Bing will only have 3.03%.
Bing’s search share is far from Google’s
This situation has been going on for years, and there seems to be no hope of any change in sight. However, the popularity of ChatGPT made Microsoft finally see the light, thanks to Microsoft’s advanced layout. In 2019, Microsoft invested more than $1 billion in ChatGPT developer OpenAI shortly after its creation, and recently invested an additional $10 billion in the company.
Even before Microsoft officially launched ChatGPT’s version of Bing on Tuesday, Google insiders felt the looming threat of the OpenAI-Microsoft partnership, marking the first time in decades that Google has felt the pressure to improve its search engine. Now, Microsoft’s dream is becoming a reality.
Google trouble
Google does feel threatened, and the search giant has sounded a “red alert.” Even the two founders, who have withdrawn from front-line management, have recently held frequent high-level meetings, requesting to speed up the deployment of AI chatbots, and approved plans to further integrate AI chatbots with search engines.
Google’s search products have gotten their fair share of flak over the past few years. The Atlantic accused Google search of being “not as good as it used to be,” and Fast Company said it was getting worse. Former Yahoo CEO and Google employee Marissa Mayer (Marissa Mayer) said that the quality of Google search is directly related to the decline in the quality of the website. Last August, tech blog TechCrunch reported that Google had introduced a method to improve the ranking of high-quality websites.
Google founder returns to ‘fight the fire’
After Microsoft released Bing for ChatGPT, Wedbush Securities said in a note to clients that it believed Bing’s ChatGPT integration “will challenge the web search market by capturing market share points as users will See more benefits and a new user experience”.
“It’s been a long time since the search market was disrupted, and Google’s long-standing market dominance has remained unchallenged, but the new Microsoft Bing, powered by the next generation of ChatGPT, looks set to be the first challenger.” Future Research Inc. ( Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman (Daniel Newman) said.
Small first mover advantage
But even as ChatGPT pushes Microsoft and Bing forward, Google has been aggressively reminding everyone that it has a long history in AI. After all, the founders of OpenAI were former Google employees, and the “T” in “GPT” stands for the “Transformer” model, an AI technology Google invented.
And Google has quickly released its autonomous chatbot, “Bard,” and asked employees to test it in the spirit of an internal hackathon.
In addition to Google, Baidu also confirmed that it is developing an AI conversational chatbot. The Chinese name of the project is “Wen Xin Yi Yan”. At present, Wenxin Yiyan is doing the sprint before going online. It is expected to complete the internal test in March, and it will be open to the public at that time.
Baidu is also developing chatbots
In other words, Microsoft may currently have the upper hand in the AI search wars, but that advantage may be difficult to maintain if its competitors get their act together. “We doubt that all vendors will leverage these technologies, and wonder if Microsoft will be able to achieve significant gains relative to other companies,” Guggenheim Research analysts said in a report after the launch of the ChatGPT version of Bing.
Act fast to maintain the edge
Microsoft promises that the new, more powerful Bing will bring new features to recommend brands or travel locations to users through simple language questions, helping users find information faster and while typing fewer keywords.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, as Microsoft has expressed interest in bringing ChatGPT to software like Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
Still, Google, with its deep pockets and long history of developing AI in-house, appears ready to fight. Much in line with Microsoft’s overall plans, Google plans to bring ChatGPT to its own software suite, including Gmail and Google Docs.
Microsoft CEO Nadella
Erik Hamilton, head of search at marketing agency Good Apple, pointed out that Google tools, including Google Chrome browser, have many fans, and AI tools will help keep them, rather than subjecting Google to user defection. Microsoft’s risk.
In other words, unless Microsoft can quickly attract a large number of Bing users with these new AI capabilities, analysts believe Google will soon catch up, rendering Microsoft’s first-mover advantage meaningless.
Real winner
Ultimately, Microsoft may finally have a chance to start chipping away at Google’s dominance, but the real winner in all these search battles is AI itself.
“As a tech giant, Microsoft’s efforts may drive further adoption of AI and machine learning in the industry, but even so, it is unlikely to impact some companies’ financials,” Guggenheim analysts said.
The AI battle escalated as Google announced in February that it would release a ChatGPT-like chatbot called “Bud” for public use. With the integration of AI in Gmail and Google Docs, as well as AI-enhanced search results, Google hopes to ensure that it can withstand the wave of attack launched by Microsoft.
