With the weekend heading close, a fresh report from Reuters claims that Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup OpenAI is preparing to challenge Alphabet's Google in the search engine industry. Google, now known globally for its video streaming and productivity platforms in addition to its bread and butter search engine, rose to prominence after having developed one of the first search engines to catalog internet web pages. Since then, it has become the world's most widely used search engine and has seen business deals challenged in historic lawsuits.
OpenAI Purportedly Gears Up To Challenge Google In Web Page Search Industry
According to the sources, OpenAI's search product is due for launch on Monday. It will be part of the firm's effort to diversify its user base and grow subscribers. The coming week is an important one for Google too, because of its developer conference. At Google I/O, the software company announces upgrades to its platforms and helps developers understand the tools and requirements needed to make products.
Like OpenAI's larger partner, Microsoft and Facebook parent Meta, Google has also extensively touted the benefits of A.I. at public events. Its latest quarterly earnings results saw growth in the ever important Cloud business division, which management attributed to A.I. products.
Yet, heavy A.I. spending spooked investors this earnings season, and Google I/O could also focus on the need to keep Wall Street happy with the potential offered by an upgrade to generational artificial intelligence.
Like OpenAI, Google also offers a chatbot called Bard. Recent earnings calls have seen Pichai share the benefits of investing in A.I. particularly when it comes to Google's Search product. Earlier reports have also mentioned OpenAI's plans to target the search industry, with its search product expected to focus on ensuring the accuracy of any facts that it generates in response to user queries.
A key aim of most A.I. companies has been to spread their products among everyday technology users. Google's lawsuit has seen it face accusations of exercising undue dominance in the search engine industry by ensuring that its product remains the platform of choice for other firms. Most of the world's smartphone and mobile web traffic originates from devices running either the Android operating system or iOS. Subsequently, Google's partnership with Apple has faced criticism from its detractors, which now include the Justice Department in the form of a lawsuit.
Concluding remarks in the DOJ's lawsuit occurred on Friday, with proceedings also revealing that Apple earns billions of dollars annually from Google to keep Search as the default platform on iOS. Apple's deal with Google is one of the single largest contributors to its revenue growth in the Services line item.
The $20 billion payment from Apple to Microsoft discovered in the legal documents was not the first time that a similar amount had made waves in the media. One such report, which surfaced in 2021, had seen Bernstein's Tim Sacconaghi claim that the figure stood at $15 billion.
For OpenAI, and especially for Microsoft, any opportunity to capitalize on the Search engine industry will help them grow revenue.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
