Google turns to AI as it lays off 12,000 employees

By Fionna Agomuoh January 20, 2023

Google now has plans to step up its introduction of AI products in the wake of highly popular technology competition, such as the AI chatbot ChatGPT developed by OpenAI, according to The New York Times.

Google, which is run by the parent company Alphabet has been cautious about adding artificial intelligence-based technology to its service lineup. However, it now has plans to announce more than 20 AI-powered projects throughout 2023, the publication added.

A Google search page for most popular movie of 2022 is shown falling into a vortex. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The plans to transition toward AI were couched in its announcement of the recent layoff of 12,000 Google employees.

Google is already known to have invested heavily in artificial intelligence. However, the Times also indicated that Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai enlisted the advice of company founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who stepped back from active roles as of 2019. They were reportedly involved in all-hands meetings with executives in December 2022, where they were able to “approve plans and pitch ideas,” The Verge reports.

Google’s AI products coming down the pike could potentially be announced at its I/O developers conference in May. Primarily, the brand might showcase a demo of its own AI chatbot, which will have a focus on ethics and information accuracy.

The Times report also indicates Google’s plans to announce an image studio that can generate and edit images, a browser called MakerSuite that includes tools for businesses to create AI prototypes, and several coding tools. One is called PaLM-Coder 2, which works similarly to Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. The other is called Colab + Android Studio and works for building smartphone apps.

Google’s prior concerns were that pushing too hard on AI could negatively affect the industry’s view of the brand, but now the company appears to be worried about being left behind. In addition to the ChatGPT chatbot, many text-to-image generators have caught the internet’s attention in recent weeks, as have a number of AI-powered productivity platforms.

Other big tech brands have also stated their intent to showcase AI on their legacy products and services. Microsoft has reported on its plans to work with the GPT-3 language to potentially implement AI features into its Office Suite, including Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing Writer

Fionna Agomuoh is a technology journalist with over a decade of experience writing about various consumer electronics topics…

Computing

How much does an AI supercomputer cost? Try $100 billion

A Microsoft datacenter.

It looks like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Sora, among other projects, are about to get a lot more juice. According to a new report shared by The Information, Microsoft and OpenAI are working on a new data center project, one part of which will be a massive AI supercomputer dubbed "Stargate." Microsoft is said to be footing the bill, and the cost is astronomical as the name of the supercomputer suggests -- the whole project might cost over $100 billion.

Spending over $100 billion on anything is mind-blowing, but when put into perspective, the price truly shows just how big a venture this might be: The Information claims that the new Microsoft and OpenAI joint project might cost a whopping 100 times more than some of the largest data centers currently in operation.

Computing

Nvidia turns simple text prompts into game-ready 3D models

A colorful collage of images generated by Nvidia's LATTE3D.

Nvidia just unveiled its new generative AI model, dubbed Latte3D, during GTC 2024. Latte3D appears to be ChatGPT on extreme steroids. I's a text-to-3D model that accepts simple, short text prompts and turns them into 3D objects and animals within a second. Much faster than its older counterparts, Latte3D works like a virtual 3D printe that could come in handy for creators across many industries.

Latte3D was made to simplify the creation of 3D models for many types of creators, such as those working on video games, design projects, marketing, or even machine learning and training for robotics. In Nvidia's demo of the model, it appears super simple to use. Following a quick text prompt, the AI generates a 3D model and shortly after finishes it off with much more detail. While the end result is nowhere near as lifelike as OpenAI's Sora, it's not meant to be -- this is a way to speed up creating assets instead of having to build them from the ground up.

Computing

We may have just learned how Apple will compete with ChatGPT

An iPhone on a table with the Siri activation animation playing on the screen.

As we approach Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, the rumor mill has been abuzz with claims over Apple’s future artificial intelligence (AI) plans. Well, there have just been a couple of major developments that shed some light on what Apple could eventually reveal to the world, and you might be surprised at what Apple is apparently working on.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is in talks with Google to infuse its Gemini generative AI tool into Apple’s systems and has also considered enlisting ChatGPT’s help instead. The move with Google has the potential to completely change how the Mac, iPhone, and other Apple devices work on a day-to-day basis, but it could come under severe regulatory scrutiny.