Recent reports have stirred up a sense of panic and shock within the tech giant Google when Samsung floated the possibility of switching its pre-installed search engine away from Google Search to Microsoft’s Bing, integrated with OpenAI and the AI-powered ChatGPT. Although the revenue model of these pre-install search engine deals is arbitrary, Google reportedly pays around $3.5 billion to maintain the default search engine on Samsung phones each year, compared to the $20 billion it pays Apple for the same agreement. Thus it is likely that the Android giant could be leveraging another party’s competitive threat to persuade Google for a better scope of the revenue.
Google must have seen this as a glimmer of hope when, during the rise up of Bing’s popularularity, the tech firm’s Vice President Yusuf Mehdi stated, “although we remain at a low, single digit share player, it feels good to be at the dance”. Rather than striving to compete with the tech-giant Google, it appears Microsoft are content with its current standing.
The company is now in full force attempting to build a new search engine powered by the latest “Magi” AI technology with the addition of over 160 employees. It is constructed to deliver more predictive search capabilities, such as suggesting lists of items to buy, as well as making the whole search experience conversational, akin to having a helpful assistant by your side. Furthermore, the engine would have ad placements with the opportunity to generate money through selected search queries.
In addition, Google has released other planned AI-related projects such as “Bard” – an experimental AI-chatbot, “GIFI” – the ability to generate images in Google Image search results, “Tivoli Tutor” – a language teaching mechanism, and “Searchalong” – a Chrome extension which would integrate a chatbot on Chrome. Yet Google is known to research and develop AI but never disclosing into the public domain, leading to similar companies such as Open AI to reap the profits from Google’s research.
Google has apparently downplayed the article’s reporting, with a statement saying “not every brainstorm deck or product idea leads to a launch”, suggesting that time will tell whether the project will be successful.
When it comes to the companies involved in the article, mention should be made of Google, a tech giant and the world’s largest search engine responsible for the majority of the content discussed in this article. Microsoft is another large corporation with considerable influence in the tech world, and a nemesis when it comes to Google. The company recently struck a deal with OpenAI and integrated the innovative ChatGPT, rising to be somewhat of a threat. Lastly, Samsung is a well-known household company and market leader when it comes to Android phones.
The main person mentioned in the article is Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Vice President. Mr Mehsi’s statement that “it feels good to be at the dance” further solidifies Microsoft’s current position second in the search engines industry, yet hinting that the company is content with the current trajectory.
Overall, the article provides insightful information on the subtle power play between tech giants and highlights the importance of pre-install search engine deals and their associated costs, as well as Google’s attempt to combat Microsoft’s formidable challenge with AI-power technologies and projects. Ultimately, this story has captivated the tech community and serves as a reminder of the intense competition for dominance within the tech industry.
