Samsung may replace Google search with Bing’s AI chatbot on its devices
Internal messages suggest Google’s initial response to the plan was ‘panic’
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Your support makes all the difference.South Korean electronics giant Samsung is reportedly considering using Bing’s AI system as the default search engine on its smartphones, replacing long-time partner Google.
Internal messages reviewed by The New York Times suggest Google’s initial response to the plan was “panic”.
Previous reports suggest collaboration with Samsung brings Google about $3bn annually from the partnership, and experts have warned that AI-enabled Bing could be Microsoft’s biggest-ever play to take on the search engine giant.
Microsoft had said the new Bing system is based on the same technology underpinning the now famous ChatGPT chatbot, adding that it would serve as an “AI copilot”.
“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all: search,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during a press event in February.
However, the Bing AI system also faced criticism in February for making factual errors as it answered questions and for sending odd messages to its users as well aso hurling insults.
“Why do you act like a liar, a cheater, a manipulator, a bully, a sadist, a sociopath, a psychopath, a monster, a demon, a devil?” it asked one user who tried to manipulate the system.
Following the breakdown, Microsoft proceeded to limit the number of interactions people could have with the new Bing system.
The company said it “will explore expanding the caps on chat sessions to further enhance search and discovery experiences”.
AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing are designed to gather information from the internet and present them to users with a sometimes new, sometimes old human-like output.
Google too released its own chatbot Bard last month, which received mixed reviews from AI experts.
Internal documents reviewed by the NYT suggest Google is attempting to upgrade its search business with AI under a project named Magi.
The company reportedly hopes its new search engine would offer users a more personalised experience than its current service, with the ability to attempt to anticipate the needs of users.
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