Google supercharges AI search in competition with OpenAI, allows users to chat about anything from smartphone camera

New launches from the internet search giant include a faster and cheaper AI model called Flash and AI-generated headlines for search results

A flurry of AI-related announcements at Google’s annual I/O developer event underscores efforts to refresh its products since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022

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Members of the media view new Google products during the Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, on May 10, 2023. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:04pm, 15 May 2024

Google parent Alphabet on Tuesday showed how it is building on artificial intelligence across its businesses, including a beefed-up Gemini chatbot and improvements to its prized search engine as it races to compete with AI rivals.

The flurry of announcements underscores Google’s efforts to refresh its products since Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s 2022 launch of ChatGPT dazzled the public, threatening the incumbent’s long reign over online search and AI.

Among Google’s latest salvoes was an addition to its family of Gemini 1.5 AI models known as Flash that is faster and cheaper to run; a prototype called Project Astra, which can talk to users about anything captured on their smartphone camera in real time; and search results categorised under AI-generated headlines.

“This is a moment of growth and opportunity,” Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told reporters, when asked if the AI updates could risk Google’s profitable business.

The product presentation at Google’s annual I/O developer event in Mountain View, California, followed a shorter showcase by rival OpenAI on Monday. OpenAI demonstrated how ChatGPT could voice answers with humanlike intonation to any written or visual prompt. The start-up’s CEO, Sam Altman, wrote that OpenAI had delivered software that “feels like AI from the movies”.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O event on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Google’s news at times covered similar ground, underscoring the fierce competition between the two AI developers.