Google's AI-Powered Counterattack: Magi, GIFI, Searchalong, and Tivoli Tutor to Take on Microsoft's Bing

Google is facing a serious challenge from Microsoft's Bing, which has recently added new artificial intelligence (AI) technology to its search engine. Bing has become more attractive to device makers like Samsung and Apple, who are considering switching from Google as their default search engine. Google's search business, which generates billions of dollars in revenue every year, is at risk of losing market share and customers.

As per a New York Times report, To fend off this threat, Google is not only working on improving its existing search engine with new AI-powered features under the project name Magi, but also building an all-new search engine that would offer a more personalized and conversational experience to users. Google is also developing other AI-based products that could enhance its image search, language learning, and web browsing capabilities.

Here is a brief overview of what Google is planning to do with its new and existing search products:

Magi:

This project aims to add new features to Google's current search engine that would help users complete transactions, such as buying shoes or booking flights, without leaving the search page. Magi would also allow users to ask questions about software coding and get code snippets as answers. Google may place ads under these answers to generate revenue. Magi is expected to launch as early as next month to a subset of users.

GIFI: 

This tool would use AI to generate images in Google Image results based on user queries. For example, if a user searches for "a blue car with a red roof", GIFI would create an image that matches that description. GIFI could also be used to create logos, icons, or illustrations for websites or apps.

Searchalong: 

This tool would let users ask a chatbot questions while surfing the web through Google's Chrome browser. The chatbot would use AI to understand the context of the web page and provide relevant information or suggestions. For example, if a user is reading a news article about a movie, the chatbot could offer reviews, ratings, or showtimes for that movie.

Tivoli Tutor: 

This tool would teach users a new language through open-ended AI text conversations. The tool would adapt to the user's level of proficiency and provide feedback and corrections. Tivoli Tutor could also help users practice their speaking and listening skills by using voice recognition and synthesis.

In the beginning of April, Google's CEO Sundar Pichai revealed plan for conversational AI in its search engine to counter Microsoft. Google is making every effort to safeguard its search business, which is currently facing its most significant competition in the past 25 years.

Microsoft has been able to successfully reduce Google's search market share with the help of OpenAI's ChatGPT, a powerful artificial intelligence chatbot that can generate natural language responses. Microsoft invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine in February 2023, creating a new user experience that attracted millions of users. According to SimilarWeb, Bing's global search market share rose from 3% to 10% in just one month, while Google's share dropped from 91% to 84%. 

ChatGPT has given Microsoft a rare opportunity to challenge Google's dominance in web search by offering more engaging and personalized results. However, Google is not giving up easily and has announced its own AI chatbot named Bard, as well as new AI-powered features for its products. Google is also working with its sister company DeepMind on AI products to counter Microsoft and OpenAI. The race for the best AI search engine is on, and both companies are investing heavily in innovation and partnerships.

Google is betting big on AI to maintain its dominance in the search market and expand its offerings to other domains. However, it is not clear how well these new products will perform or how users will react to them.