As the New York Times reports, there were recently extensive meetings between current Google managers and the two former founders of the company, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who had actually left day-to-day business about three years ago. The topic was supposedly the question of how Google should react to AI projects like ChatGPT.
Brin and Page have not been involved with Google’s work since 2019
Brin and Page were reportedly due to give their take on Google’s overall “vision” on the subject of artificial intelligence. Among other things, the integration of AI-supported functions in the style of chatbots in the Google search engine was probably discussed, with the two founders dealing with concepts and making suggestions, it is said.
Google considers the ChatGPT bot, which is being developed by the small start-up company OpenAI, to be a threat mainly because it is seen as a new way of searching for information on the Internet. There have been reports before that Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently raised a “red alert” about ChatGPT and changed the company’s strategic direction to speed up work on AI projects.
Google is working flat out on over 20 projects
According to the New York Times report, there are now more than 20 “innovative products” that rely on AI technologies. In addition, a variant of the Google search engine that works like a chatbot is to be presented later this year.
Among other things, Google reportedly has some sort of AI-powered video generator in the works that would make a series of videos into a new clip to provide a synopsis. In addition, plans are being made for a background image generator for use on Pixel smartphones, a green screen feature for YouTube, a function for trying on clothes, and a tool called “Maya” that is said to visualize shoes in 3D.
In addition to these rather smaller projects, all of which should also work with AI technologies, Google is also working on its own tool that can create and edit images without requiring any knowledge from the user. There are also tools for companies called “MakerSuite”, with which they can allegedly have their own AI models developed easily in the browser.
The sources of the report are currently assuming that Google will probably give a first glimpse of its plans for AI-supported tools for its own search engine and other products in May. Then the Google I/O developer conference usually takes place, which would of course be an ideal platform for corresponding announcements.
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