Alphabet & Musk: The Latest AI Updates

AI has definitely made the headlines numerous times in the past couple of years, in general, and in the past couple of months, in particular, especially in light of the AI frenzy made by OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT. 

Various big tech companies from Alphabet (GOOG) to Microsoft (MSFT) and NVIDIA (NVDA) have also expressed interest in the advancement of AI technology. As such, the road to AI glory emerged and market competition increased causing more headlines. From Alphabet to Microsoft and Tesla (TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk, here are the latest updates in the nascent AI field:

AI Competition Puts a Strain on Google

It seems that search engine giant, Alphabet opened the trading week on a less-than-stellar note by losing by 4% on early Monday. This loss was reportedly the result of rival Microsoft outperforming Alphabet in the AI game. Over the past couple of months, following the announcement that it would invest billions in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and take hold of 49% of the firm, Microsoft has been outperforming Alphabet.

In addition, analysts believe that Microsoft has an early advancement in the AI field through Bing and Edge into which the company intends to integrate ChatGPT. A JPMorgan analyst, Mark Murphy, even said that Microsoft is the “clear early leader” in AI which only shows the company’s prowess and highlights the idea that Google might be losing some of its luster. 

Moreover,  over the weekend, it was reported that Samsung Electronics is apparently interested in switching its default search engine from Google to Microsoft’s Bing. This, therefore, put further strain on Google and risked a yearly $3 billion contract with Alphabet. Accordingly, “panic” among Alphabet’s employees emerged, according to the New York Times, as the company also lost about $57 billion in market capitalization.

However, while Alphabet’s stock depreciated, Microsoft rose by 13.3% on Monday as investors and traders digested this news. This rise comes as a continuation of the overall wins achieved by Microsoft since the launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022. Meanwhile, in the same period, Alphabet gained only 4.9% since ChatGPT’s launch.

In response to the rising competition, it seems that Alphabet’s battle is far from over as the big tech company is reportedly developing a new AI search engine called Project Magi. This AI-driven search engine would have a built-in AI chat in order to answer users’ questions. It would, therefore, be interesting to see how this endeavor might measure up when compared to the likes of ChatGPT and whether or not Alphabet would get its groove back. 

What Does Elon Musk Have to Do with AI?

Tesla and Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk, is certainly one to have made controversial headlines when it comes to market and non-market-related topics, and the latest AI craze is no exception. Musk, the second-wealthiest person in the world, has hopped onto the AI bandwagon by starting an AI company that would compete with Alphabet, OpenAI, Microsoft, and C3.ai (AI). 

This is not necessarily the first time Musk was involved in AI development as in 2015 he was was of OpenAI’s founders and soon put a halt on this as Tesla was testing AI through its driving software which became a conflict of interest. 

So one might wonder, how is Musk’s involvement different this time? On Monday, April 17th, Musk revealed that he would launch his own AI platform called “TruthGPT,” which intends to replace ChatGPT and is a “maximum truth-seeking AI.” (Source:Reuters)

Musk also went on to explain that TruthGPT is considerably “safer” to humanity than most AI projects and, as such, his company intends to serve as a reversal of OpenAI's approach. He elaborated by saying that he thinks “this might be the best path to safety in the sense that an AI that cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe.” Furthermore, in March, Musk and some AI researchers signed a letter asking companies to stop indulging in “giant AI experiments” that their own creators don’t have control over or understand.

It would also be worth it to keep track of Musk’s other companies, like Tesla and Twitter to see how these might be affected by his latest AI project, if any, in the future. Traders, investors, and analysts may also keep an eye on Alphabet’s trajectory to see if its Project Magi AI would bear much-needed fruit. Another way to stay up-to-date on AI progress is through monitoring other AI-related companies like NVIDIA, which some analysts deem a promising leader in the AI field, in order to see how these could advance the technology.