Sergey Brin and Larry Page stepped down as Google owners in 2019. AP
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Google asked Larry Page and Sergey Brin for help fighting ChatGPT, according to The New York Times.
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The two reportedly met with executives to discuss the company’s AI strategy.
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The launch of the OpenAI typing bot has raised concerns about the future of Google’s search engine.
Google owner Alphabet asked co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for help after issuing a “code red” following the release of the OpenAI typing tool, The New York Times reported.
ChatGPT’s launch on November 30 raised internal concerns about the continued dominance of Google’s search engine. CEO Sundar Pichai held meetings on Google’s AI strategy in December, and the company reportedly issued a “code red” after the AI bot quickly gained popularity.
That prompted Pichai to call Page and Brin, more than three years after they stepped down from executive positions, The Times reported. The co-founders remain on Alphabet’s board.
According to the report, Page and Brin held “several” meetings with executives last month to lay out Google’s AI strategy and approved plans to include more chatbot features in its search engine.
Page and Brin have not actually been closely involved with the company’s operations since 2019, an unnamed source told the paper, and have only visited the Silicon Valley offices to check out its “moon” projects.
Vic Gundotra, a former Google senior vice president, told The Times that the co-founders had always been passionate about AI. Page was reportedly unimpressed with Gmail’s new feature in 2008, saying, “Why can’t it just automatically write that email for you.”
An Alphabet representative told The Times: “We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s useful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon.”
The company did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.
As Google grew increasingly concerned about the threat posed by ChatGPT, Insider’s Thomas Maxwell identified 12 powerful players working on the technology needed to fight back.
The story continues
The chatbot, which amassed one million users in just five days, Insider reported, streamlines the search process. It can also take on complex tasks like writing a children’s book, responding to Hinge matches, writing cover letters, and even giving career training advice.
The chatbot craze has also raised concerns about misinformation. Artificial intelligence experts told Insider that it is unable to fact-check itself and cannot distinguish between verified fact and misinformation. Bloomberg reported that it can also generate racist and sexist responses.
Google announced massive job cuts on Friday, eliminating 12,000 jobs. In an email to staff, Pichai said he takes “full responsibility for the decisions that got us here.”
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