Google unveils new ChatGPT rival Gemini
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — In an attempt to catch up to rivals in the intensifying artificial intelligence (AI) race, tech giant Google has launched Gemini, its most advanced AI system yet.
The new system comes in three versions – Gemini Nano, Gemini Pro, and Gemini Ultra – for different uses, from smartphones to data centers.
Gemini Pro powers an upgraded version of Google’s conversational AI chatbot Bard, making it more intuitive and better at planning tasks. Meanwhile, Gemini Nano enables features like automatic speech transcription and smart replies on the new Google Pixel 8 Pro smartphone.
The full Gemini Ultra version won’t be available until early next year when it launches Bard Advanced, a juiced-up version of the chatbot to be offered initially to a test audience.
Gemini was created by Deepmind, Google’s AI division that they acquired nearly a decade ago.
“This is a significant milestone in the development of AI, and the start of a new era for us at Google,” declared Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind.
The launch aims to help Google catch up to Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, whose chatbot ChatGPT took the world by storm. The company also unveiled the GPT-4 Turbo in November this year.
For now, Gemini is only available in English, but Google plans to expand it to more languages soon. The launch of Gemini was first reported to be delayed until 2024 after it struggled with non-English queries during internal testing.
“We’re approaching this work boldly and responsibly,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post.
“That means being ambitious in our research and pursuing the capabilities that will bring enormous benefits to people and society, while building in safeguards and working collaboratively with governments and experts to address risks as AI becomes more capable.”
Google joins other competitors in the global AI race, with Apple allocating $1 billion annually to develop generative AI capabilities. Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI also recently introduced Grok, an AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT and Bard.
