Google's Founders Tackle Code Red and Unleash their AI Investments

Larry Page and Sergey Brin Take Action as ChatGPT Poses a Threat and Google Plans to Reveal Over 20 Cutting-Edge AI Products

The Gist

• Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are helping address a Code Red crisis caused by the threat of OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT.

• ChatGPT poses a serious risk to Google as it appeared to offer a new way of searching the internet, a change that could upend the company's business.

• CEO Sundar Pichai declared the Code Red and summoned Page and Brin to prioritize Google's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

• Google plans on unveiling over 20 new AI products, including a search engine with chatbot features.

• Another product is their rival AI program, LaMDA, which is already quite advanced.

• CEO Demis Hassabis warned that Sparrow may still make mistakes such as hallucinate facts or give off-topic answers.

More Detail

Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, recently returned to the company to tackle a Code Red crisis caused by the threat of the chatbot, ChatGPT. According to the New York Times, ChatGPT's rapid rise poses a serious risk to Google as it offers a new way of searching the internet, a change that could potentially upend Google’s business.

In response, CEO Sundar Pichai summoned Page and Brin to prioritize Google's artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The New York Times predicts that Google will now unveil over 20 new AI products, including a search engine with chatbot features.

Google has long recognized the importance of AI, as evidenced by its acquisition of the U.K.-based AI research lab, DeepMind, almost nine years ago. The company also has plans to launch various AI programs, including image creation and a code correction tool for app development.

However, it was the unexpected success of ChatGPT that caused the Code Red. Google has its own rival program, LaMDA, which is already quite advanced. Last summer, a Google engineer described LaMDA as sentient, but this statement was later corrected.

DeepMind is also set to release Sparrow, a chatbot that will be available in private beta later this year. However, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis warned that Sparrow may still make mistakes such as hallucinating facts or give off-topic answers.

How users react to these errors compared to ChatGPT will be quite telling. Startups are generally forgiven more, and Google is one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world.