Chief executives in the tech industry have a newfound fixation on artificial intelligence. In recent earnings calls, AI has been a frequently discussed topic, receiving more attention than in previous quarters. As per a Reuters analysis of conference call transcripts, executives used terms such as “AI,” “generative AI,” and “machine learning” two to six times more frequently compared to the previous quarter.
Leaders from Microsoft and Alphabet, who are behind the current tech showdown, engaged in a competition during recent conference calls. On Thursday, Alphabet appeared to come out ahead, mentioning AI 45 times, an increase from 13 in Q3, compared to Microsoft’s 39 references, a rise from 15 in the previous quarter.
The development of AI-powered software like ChatGPT, a chatbot from OpenAI, has ignited a competition to incorporate AI into more offerings and for investors to invest in the company that will come out on top in the race.
Microsoft’s investments in OpenAI and its determination to make ChatGPT easily accessible to its cloud customers, among other initiatives, pose a new threat to Alphabet. Some experts in the industry have suggested that integrating human-like ChatGPT responses into Microsoft’s Bing search engine could give it an advantage over Alphabet’s Google, which has been the dominant leader in information search for a long time.
In response to the growing popularity of ChatGPT, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has expressed that Google is still in the game. He stated that the company will approach this field with boldness, but also with a strong sense of responsibility.
Pichai also revealed that AI software is a crucial area of focus for Alphabet and that the company plans to make its own LaMDA chatbot software publicly available in the near future.
David Heger, an analyst at Edward Jones, noted that Google is becoming more transparent about its substantial AI investments after previously staying quiet on the matter. He said that the company is more vocal about how AI benefits many aspects of its business and how they plan to further integrate it into its operations in the future.