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Despite widespread expectations that the launch of ChatGPT nearly two years ago would transform the Internet search market, not much has modified. Another strong quarterly profit this week showed that Google has integrated generative artificial intelligence technology into its search engine and, if anything, is just going from strength to strength.
But something recent is within the air. Quite a few other events this week pointed to a more disruptive phase within the AI-powered search wars.
First, Apple Intelligence launched on Monday, with a revamped Siri AI assistant at its heart. The upcoming integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT into Siri will give iPhone users a brand new approach to seek for information. This will cause a rift within the close partnership with Apple that has guaranteed Google a priceless flow of web searches – though a US antitrust ruling against Google in August already threatened to destroy the connection between the tech giants.
Meanwhile, Meta executives said Wednesday that they’re working on expanding web search into their very own AI assistant, generally known as Meta AI.
Meta hasn't confirmed it a report This suggested that the corporate hoped to switch Google and Bing, which it uses to generate its search results, with its own search engine. But Chief Financial Officer Susan Li identified that Meta already has its own web crawlers, one in all the basic technologies behind search. She also said Meta AI expects to process an ever-broader range of search queries, including “more monetizable” queries – a transparent sign that it’s aiming to maneuver into Google's turf.
But the third and most immediate challenge got here Thursday with news that OpenAI has begun integrating web search into ChatGPT, an idea the corporate has been working on since July. Chatbot users can find news and other current information of their conversations, in addition to links to resources on the Internet.
What's notable is that none of those moves attack Google with a competing general-purpose search engine. This strategy has been a graveyard for potential competitors through the years.
Instead, competitors are expanding the search to incorporate chatbots and AI assistants, that are claiming an increasing number of online attention. As these intelligent companions develop more capabilities and evolve into agents who can take motion on behalf of their users, the flexibility to retrieve information from the Internet might be a necessary skill.
This presents Google with a classic dilemma that dominant technology corporations often face. Should it attempt to integrate a potentially disruptive technology into existing products? Or should it see it as the idea for a brand new variety of service that would at some point threaten the old monopoly?
Google is attempting to keep its options open. The company has added AI summaries – summaries of AI-generated web pages – to its search engine and released a standalone chatbot called Gemini.
It's clear which of the strategies plays to Google's key strengths. This week it said AI Overviews was an enormous hit with search engine users and could be expanded to 100 recent countries to succeed in a billion people. The company has already expanded search promoting to overviews, which is one in all the aspects behind its strong earnings report.
The company faces increased competition within the emerging world of chatbots and assistants. For example, in accordance with OpenAI, 250 million people use ChatGPT a minimum of once per week, creating an fast audience for the brand new search features, while 500 million people use Meta AI a minimum of once a month.
Despite the competition, Google's Gemini has loads to supply. The Android operating system enables many smartphone users to take the direct route. This week it was embedded in Google Maps, one in all seven Google services that reach greater than 2 billion people.
And Google's dominance in search is prone to extend well into the AI era. According to Judge Amit Mehta, who’s presiding over the US antitrust case against the corporate, the large amount of search query data it has collected means the corporate has unique insights into the online results that users find most relevant – something that generative AI models cannot do own.
Deeply ingrained behavior causes people to be slow to vary. Google's role because the dominant general-purpose search engine seems as secure as ever. But as search expands to a brand new generation of AI-powered chatbots, assistants, and agents, it might now not count on the undivided attention of its audience.
