On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, Google launched an artificial intelligence chatbot called Bard. Bard marks Google's response to the AI frenzy dominating big tech companies, which was sparked by the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT—backed by Microsoft—in late 2020. The chatbot will initially be available to a limited number of users in the U.S. and the U.K., with more users, countries and languages to be added over time.
Bard will be accessible through a separate website from Google's search engine, in an effort to distinguish the source of Google's revenue from the experimental technology that has been prone to problems at other companies. Google's launch of Bard is the latest in the race to dominate the AI space, following OpenAI's release of ChatGPT and Microsoft's addition of a chatbot to its search engine Bing.
However, the shift to AI has not come without obstacles. When Google announced its intention to launch a chatbot last month, Bard incorrectly answered a question during a promotional video, causing a plunge in Alphabet's stock price erasing $100 billion from its market value. Despite this setback, Google is continuing to pursue its development of AI technology, with the company announcing AI-powered features for Google Cloud and Google Workspace last week.