Microsoft Corp. is reportedly planning to add OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot to its Bing search engine to enhance the results for search queries.
The Information reported that in a bid to lure users from the rival search engine Google, Microsoft may roll out the additional feature in the next several months. The company is still measuring the chatbot’s accuracy and how quickly it can be included in the search engine. The initial release could be a limited test to a narrow group of users, as per reports.
Microsoft has invested $1 billion in OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research non-profit company, behind ChatGPT. The company was founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley investors. Microsoft had earlier dabbled in the world of chatbots with its bot, Tay, in 2016. The chatbot learnt misogynistic and racist terms in 24 hours and ultimately had to be brought down.
The AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, is a software, programmed to simulate human conversation. It was made available to the public on November 30 via OpenAI’s website, and while it is still in the research review phase, users can sign up and test it out free of charge.
Meanwhile, Alphabet’s employees have asked CEO Sundar Pichai and AI research chief Jeff Dean about the chatbot’s threat to Google. The New York Times had earlier reported that Pichai and the company’s management have mobilized teams of researchers to respond to ChatGPT, declaring the situation a “code red” threat. CNBC reported that Alphabet has been working on a similar technology in its LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications system, but faces reputational risk from any mistakes or errors.
