A few weeks ago, the first skirmish broke out between Microsoft and Google in the battle for supremacy in the emerging world of generative artificial-intelligence applications.
It’s time for round two.
In the first clash of the titans, Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) unveiled a new version of its Bing search engine powered by software from the Microsoft-backed...
A Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 computer.
Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg
A few weeks ago, the first skirmish broke out between Microsoft and Google in the battle for supremacy in the emerging world of generative artificial-intelligence applications.
It’s time for round two.
In the first clash of the titans, Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) unveiled a new version of its Bing search engine powered by software from the Microsoft-backed start-up OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, while Google, which is owned by Alphabet (GOOGL), promised a new AI-based chatbot called Bard.
Round one went to Microsoft: While the Bing chatbot had well-publicized flaws that required the company to limit its ability to engage in conversations on controversial topics, Google has yet to make Bard available to the general public. Meanwhile, Alphabet ’s stock tumbled on fears that Bing could eat into Google’s massive lead in the market for search-related advertising.
We join this week’s battle already in progress. In a blog post on Tuesday, Google announced plans to add new AI features to two of its most popular productivity apps—Gmail and Google Docs.
In the blog post, attributed to Google Workspace Vice President Johanna Voolich Wright, the company said that the company has begun offering AI-powered writing features in both Docs and Gmail to “trusted testers.” (That’s the same language the company used in the Bard unveiling a few weeks ago.) Google said it would begin to roll out these additional features to test users throughout the year before making them publicly available.
The company said the new capabilities will include drafting, replying, summarizing, and prioritizing in Gmail; and brainstorming, proofreading, writing. and rewriting in Docs. It also plans to add AI features to other apps, including Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat.
In an example in the blog post, the user asks Google Docs to create a job post for a regional sales rep, and it basically whips one up from scratch, which the user can then modify as needed. In another example, AI drafted notes in Gmail will include a choice of tone, ranging from formal to playful.
Google’s quiet announcement was overshadowed on Tuesday by OpenAI’s launch of GPT-4, its new generation of iterative AI software. The updated software can now accept both image and text inputs—and it provides higher-quality responses in many situations. OpenAI noted that the new software in one test was able to pass a simulated bar exam with a score in the top 10% of test takers, while GPT-3.5 scored in the bottom 10%. “GPT-4 is more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions than GPT-3.5,” the company said.
Microsoft said in a post on Tuesday that it is already using GPT-4 in its Bing chatbot. “If you’ve used the new Bing preview at any time in the last five weeks, you’ve already experienced an early version of this powerful mode,” the company said. “As OpenAI makes updates to GPT-4 and beyond, Bing benefits from those improvements. “
On Thursday, Microsoft is holding a virtual event hosted by CEO Satya Nadella called “the future of work with AI,” and there is the chance that Microsoft will again out-PR Google, as they did with the recent announcements on AI-powered search and chatbots. The event is co-hosted by Jared Spataro, the company’s corporate VP of “modern work and business applications.”
While the details so far are sketchy, it seems likely that the company will show off integrations of generative AI capabilities in Office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and potentially in both Microsoft Teams, the company’s communications suite, and Outlook, the company’s popular email tool.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced new AI capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics, the company’s flagship enterprise software. The company said that “Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot” would give customers the ability to use AI tools for applications like responding to customer emails and service requests, and generating targeted marketing messages.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at eric.savitz@barrons.com