Google’s AI fail wipes $144.5bn from parent company Alphabet

Google’s parent company Alphabet had $US100bn wiped out after an AI fail where its chatbot shared false information in a promotional video.

OpenAI, whose online chatbot ChatGPT made waves when it was debuted in December, announced that a commercial version of the service, called ChatGPT Plus, would soon be available to users in the United States. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Google’s parent company Alphabet had $US100bn ($144.5bn) wiped out in market value when its chatbot shared false information in a promotional video, stoking fears among investors that the tech giant is ceding ground to rival Microsoft and ChatGPT.

The company shared a GIF showing its new chatbot Bard answering the question, “What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9-year-old about?”, with bullet points including that the telescope “took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our own solar system.”

That information was incorrect, however, with astronomers pointing out on Twitter that the first image showing a planet beyond our solar system was actually taken in 2004, by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

“Not to be a ~well, actually~ jerk, and I’m sure Bard will be impressive, but for the record: JWST did not take ‘the very first image of a planet outside our solar system,’” astrophysicist Grant Tremblay said in a tweet, with other scientists chiming in to point out the error.

Investors were quick to punish Bard’s owner Alphabet for the mistake, sending the company’s shares down by as much as 8 per cent in the US.

Not to be a ~well, actually~ jerk, and I'm sure Bard will be impressive, but for the record: JWST did not take "the very first image of a planet outside our solar system".

the first image was instead done by Chauvin et al. (2004) with the VLT/NACO using adaptive optics. https://t.co/bSBb5TOeUWpic.twitter.com/KnrZ1SSz7h

— Grant Tremblay (@astrogrant) February 7, 2023

“This highlights the importance of a rigorous testing process, something that we’re kicking off this week with our Trusted Tester program,” a Google spokesman said in a statement.

“We’ll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information.”

The company is in a high-stakes AI arms race with Microsoft to help steer the future of chatbots, which are quickly becoming embedded across a variety of technology products.

This week, Microsoft hosted a high-profile AI event at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington, in which it showed off new AI features in its Bing search engine and Edge browser.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announces ChatGPT’s integration in Bing at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. Picture: Jason Redmond/AFP

Microsoft’s Bing search engine, which has long played second fiddle to Google, will soon be powered by AI and use a powerful ‘large language model’ that can help users refine queries more easily and making shopping easier. The technology is still in testing but will scale to millions of users in coming weeks, the company said.

An executive on stage this week used the bolstered Bing to plan a trip to Mexico City, find the best 65-inch television to buy, then refined a query to find the best 65-inch television for playing video games.

The tech giant has placed a pre-emptive warning about accuracy on its search engine. “Bing is powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible,” a disclaimer reads.

“Make sure to check the facts, and share feedback, so we can learn and improve!”

Microsoft has invested billions into OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and Microsoft shares are up nearly 20 per cent over the past month.

“This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category,” Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella told reporters this week.

Originally published as Google’s AI fail wipes $144.5bn from parent company Alphabet