Google shares plummet after AI chatbot gaffe

Luke Meredith

After finally submitting its entry into the battle of the super-responsive artificial intelligence programmes this week, Google has already suffered a setback in the battle against ChatGPT thanks to a mistake in the promotional launch video for its new chatbot Bard.

On first glance, Bard appears to be Google’s answer for the increasingly popular ChatGPT software, which was developed by OpenAI and now funded by rival Microsoft. Google CEO Sundar Pichai declared that Bard would have the capacity to answer questions from users in a more advanced way than simply delivering basic factual information. However, a promotional video released by Google designed to highlight Bard’s capabilities appears to bring into question its ability to do the latter.

In the promotional video, Bard is prompted with the question:

“What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can I tell my 9-year old about?”

In its response, Bard claims, among other things, that the James Webb Space Telescope was used to take the world’s first pictures of a planet outside our solar system. This, however, is not true, as the first pictures of this kind were taken by the Very Large Telescope, NASA has confirmed.

As a result of the gaffe, Google’s parent company Alphabet saw its share price fall by around 9%, which was enough to damage its market value by around £100,000,000,000. This was the biggest fall in value Alphabet has seen in a single day since October of last year.

Despite being a powerhouse in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation over the last decade, questions are now being raised regarding Google’s ability to implement this technology into its most valuable products, especially its search engines. With the emerging popularity and success of ChatGPT, inaccurate information from Google’s AI products is unlikely to give the company any sort of edge in the battle against its competitors.

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Luke Meredith

Content Editor at Engage Web

At home in both the digital sector and the world of communications, Luke thrives on deadlines and has held roles in healthcare, retail and digital marketing, gaining a sound knowledge of a wide range of sectors. He’s a massive swot as well, holding a first-class degree in BA Communication and Media, and now uses his writing skills and keen editorial eye in his role as Content Editor here. Luke helps to oversee our clients’ content requirements, while also looking after a pool of freelance writers across three continents.

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Google shares plummet after AI chatbot gaffe