Shaken by Openai’s offensives and by Perplexity’s ambitions, Google wants to regain control. On Tuesday, during his annual I/O conference, the American giant unveiled a new feature, called “AI mode”, similar to what generative artificial intelligence chatbots offer. “A total reinvention of research”, promises Sundar Pichai, its managing director, who underlines that Internet users now wish to pose “Longer and more complex questions” that traditional requests on Google. This option is already starting to be deployed in the United States for all users. The company does not communicate on a launch date in Europe. But it should not intervene for several months, partly due to constraints linked to the general data protection regulations.
Google accelerates – Curved by the spectacular success of Chatgpt, Google quickly reacted, in particular by launching a rival chatbot – first baptized Bard, then renamed Gemini. However, the group took its time to integrate this technology within its star product. It now presses the accelerator. Last year, he launched AI first feature, the “AI Overviews” module – whose availability has just been extended to more than 200 countries, but still not to France because “Legal uncertainty”. From now on, a structured text, citing several sources, is displayed at the top of the results page for certain requests, above the traditional links and site extracts. “In just a year, the way people use research has changed deeply”, Assures Liz Reid, the boss of Google Search.
Gemini on Google – “AI mode” represents the “Higher level”explains the manager. The functionality, fueled by the latest homemade language model, brings the gemini experience directly to Google. No need to juggle between the search engine and a chatbot, as needed. Internet users can now access the power of the AI by clicking on an icon added to the search bar on the home page, or by clicking on a dedicated tab on the results page. As on a chatbot, they can interact with Google to ask for details. The responses can be personalized according to previous interactions or information contained in other services, such as Gmail. Users can also ask an AI agent to carry out actions, such as buying a product or reserving a restaurant.
“A taste”- With “AI mode”, Google replies to the latest Openai advances. In November, the start-up joined a new research feature directly in Chatgpt. At the same time, Perplexity AI negotiates a fundraising of $ 500 million, to continue its development. For the moment, the generative AI has not yet had a major impact on the activity of the Mountain View group. But the transformation in progress of the uses could rebatter the cards in a sector which it largely dominates. Faced with his competitors, he can count on the immense audience of his site, by far the most visited in the world. Google also promises not to slow down. “Ai Mode is only a taste of what is happening, assure Liz Reid. Over time, many AI capacities will be integrated directly into the research experience ”.
To go further:
– Apple studies “actively” alternatives to Google
– Why the Google AI functionality multiplies errors
