Google stock drops $100 billion after demo flub.
But also, Google showcases some really neat Maps updates.
In today’s email:
Google’s demo of Bard bombs, dropping their value $100 billion.
Google also showcased new Google Maps AI updates.
Something that has nothing to do with Google.
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🤓 2 Big Stories About AI
1. Google loses $100 billion in shares after their AI demo blooper.
Losing $1 million isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? Losing $100 billion.
The 🥩 of it:
Alphabet Inc. lost $100 billion in market value on February 8th, 2023, after its new chatbot Bard shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and company event failed to impress investors.
Alphabet shares dropped as much as 9% during regular trading hours.
The error in the advertisement for Bard was discovered by Reuters just before the presentation by Google, and raised concerns about Google's ability to implement AI technology into its core search function.
Microsoft, which has billions of dollars invested into OpenAI, held an event on February 7th showcasing its Bing search with ChatGPT functions integrated, causing investors to question Google's ability to compete with Microsoft.
Alphabet is moving quickly to keep pace with OpenAI and other rivals, reportedly bringing in founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to accelerate its efforts.
AI-driven search has the potential to provide results in plain language, making browsing faster and more efficient, but the impact on targeted advertising is yet to be seen.
This may have caused temporary financial damage to Google’s shareholders, but I worry it may have caused greater damage to the reputation of artificial intelligence. AI remains unpredictable, and it’s unfortunate nobody at Google fact-checked the video before releasing it.
2. Google kinda redeems themselves with new AI-powered Google Maps updates.
🎵They get knocked down…but they’ll get up again. You’re never gonna keep them down🎵
After the Bard blooper, Google released an amazing product update for Google Maps, including immersive view, live view, and a few new treats for EV drivers.
The 🥩 of it:
Google is updating Google Maps with AI-powered updates for immersive view and Live View, along with new features for electric vehicle (EV) drivers and people who walk, bike, or ride public transit.
Immersive view is an entirely new way to explore a place (including the ability to change the weather) — letting you feel like you’re right there, even before you visit.
Live View uses AI and augmented reality to help you find things around you — like ATMs, restaurants, parks and transit stations — just by lifting your phone while you’re on the street.
The new feature transforms pictures into 3D representations and accurately recreates the context of a place, including lighting, textures and background.
Immersive view is rolling out in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, with more cities to follow in the coming months.
What? No Lincoln, Nebraska in the first rollout?
As for Live View, it’s launched in London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo. They’ll start expanding to Barcelona, Dublin and Madrid in the coming months. Their indoor version of Live View, cleverly named Indoor Live View is also expanding to more than 1,000 new airports, train stations, and malls.
They also announced new features for EVs, like: Adding charging stops to shorter trips, finding “very fast charging stations”, and knowing if charging stations are in or around locations you’re getting directions to.
Surprisingly, the market didn’t think these updates were worth $100 billion. But I know I’m not the only weirdo that stays up at night roaming new cities in Google Maps, so I’m excited for these updates and the future of AI + Google Maps.