Google had its own ChatGPT-like bot before OpenAI's launch
What's the story
Thibault 'Tibo' Sottiaux, a former member of Google's AI team and now an employee at OpenAI, has claimed that Google had its own version of ChatGPT before OpenAI launched it. The revelation came in response to a post by AI engineer Cheng Lou on X. Lou referred to an interview with Jeff Dean where he mentioned having an internal bot before ChatGPT but not considering it better than simply Googling.
Chatbot details
'ChatGPT a year before it came out'
Sottiaux confirmed Lou's statement, saying that he was part of the team that developed an internal chatbot called LMChat.
He revealed that it was basically "ChatGPT one year before it came out." However, Google didn't release this technology for fear it might hurt its search business.
Sottiaux added, "Google was too nervous to release it and DeepMind was blocked from shipping products that could disrupt Google."
AI development
Google's fears of AI hallucinations and impact on search business
Despite its advanced AI capabilities, Google was hesitant to release its chatbot due to concerns over hallucinations (where an AI might fabricate information instead of relying on facts).
These fears stemmed from the potential risk of disrupting its search business.
Back in 2022, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean had said they had similar capabilities as OpenAI but were more cautious about the risks involved.
Model development
Google had developed advanced models like LaMDA, PaLM, Meena
Before ChatGPT's launch, Google was already a leading AI company with its research teams like Google Brain, DeepMind, and Google Research.
The company had developed advanced models such as LaMDA, PaLM, and Meena.
However, these systems were either kept internal or not fully integrated into Google's product suite due to concerns over accuracy and safety.
Market shift
ChatGPT vs Gemini: The battle for user supremacy
OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT changed the pace of the AI market. The platform gained one million users in just five days and hit 100 million in two months.
Today, it boasts around one billion monthly active users, with Google's Gemini close behind at nearly 950 million.
This rapid growth highlights how OpenAI has revolutionized the industry since its inception.