OpenAI vs Google’s Gemini: All the major AI updates
This week witnessed a showcase of prowess in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), with OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind engaged in a competitive display of their capabilities.
The remarkable advancements underscore the rapid deployment of AI technology, addressing prior concerns expressed in an open letter about its potential societal harm and the need for a deeper understanding before further progress.
Ilya Sutskever, co-founder and chief scientist at OpenAI, known for his cautious approach towards rapid AI deployment, announced his departure from the startup on Wednesday.
OpenAI kicked off the week with its inaugural live session, unveiling its latest model, GPT-4o, touted for its enhanced speed and expanded capabilities across text, vision, and audio domains. While a version of GPT-4o will be available for free, a paid version offering five times the capacity limits will also be offered.
One of the most noteworthy developments from OpenAI is its voice assistant, capable of generating content, understanding commands in voice, text, or image formats, facilitating live translations, responding in real-time, and even observing body motion.
Not content with these announcements alone, OpenAI revealed on Thursday a partnership deal granting access to content from Reddit, paving the way for AI-powered features on the social media platform.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Sony issued letters to OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft inquiring about the use of its songs in the development of their AI systems. These inquiries arise amidst mounting copyright cases against generative AI companies.
Google vs OpenAI rivalry
Competition between the two tech giants intensified this week as Google’s DeepMind rolled out updates to its chatbot Gemini, just a day after the OpenAI event, a timing that seemed far from coincidental.
During Google’s I/O developer conference, a video demonstration showcased Gemini, Google’s chatbot, seemingly observing the proceedings of the GPT-4o launch by OpenAI.
In response to voice commands, Google’s chatbot adeptly attributed quotes to speakers from OpenAI and even identified them upon request, illustrating how voice input is gaining prominence over text input.
Gemini boasts the capability to utilize personal data, such as vacation requests, and leverage publicly available information to swiftly craft itineraries.
However, Google’s announcements didn’t stop there. The search engine itself is undergoing a transformation. Instead of providing the Search Generative Experience (SGE), AI will now generate summaries of search results.
Not just about OpenAI and Google
While the spotlight often shines on industry giants like Google and OpenAI, Anthropic made significant strides in the AI sector this week.
On Tuesday, Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, made its debut in Europe.
Anthropic distinguishes itself as an AI safety research company and was founded by former executives and researchers from OpenAI. Notably, Google and Amazon are among Anthropic’s major investors.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Claude to the European market, as the region is poised to leverage the advantages of AI,” commented a spokesperson from Anthropic to Euronews Next.
“Claude boasts several features tailored to uphold EU values and cater to the EU market. We’ve designed Claude to mitigate biases, discrimination, and hate speech, prioritizing reliable, adaptable, and inclusive AI accessible to all.”
