- Google this week began company-wide internal testing of Bard, its AI search chatbot.
- In a memo, CEO Sundar Pichai asked all employees to help test the product for 2 to 4 hours.
- Google is in a race with Microsoft to lead the next era of AI-powered search.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, on Wednesday sent Googlers an internal memo asking them to contribute 2 to 4 hours of their time to improving Bard, the company’s AI chatbot that it integrates with search want.
The email, which Insider reviewed, signals Google’s urgency in winning the next generation of AI-powered search. The company fell behind as Microsoft took the spotlight with its investment in OpenAI. OpenAI developed the popular ChatGPT, a chatbot released in late 2022 that can respond to broad, open-ended questions with human-like responses. Last week, Microsoft unveiled a revamped version of its Bing search engine, ChatGPT, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called it a “new day” for search.
“I know this moment is uncomfortably exciting, and that’s to be expected: the underlying technology is evolving fast and has so much potential,” Pichai wrote in his memo to Google employees. “The most important thing we can do now is focus on building a great product and developing it responsibly.”
Google began “dogfooding,” or internal testing, of Bard on Tuesday, according to another memo seen by Insider. It’s already in use by thousands of external and internal testers who provide feedback on the quality, safety, and “grounding” of Bard’s answers, Pichai’s memo said.
“Testing and feedback from Googlers and external trusted testers are important aspects of improving Bard to ensure it’s ready for our users,” a Google spokesman said in a statement. “We often seek input from Google employees to improve our products, and it’s an important part of our internal culture.”
Last week, the company suffered some reputational damage after a demo by Bard showed that there was an incorrect answer to a question about the James Webb Space Telescope. The stock fell more than 9% the day after the bug broke, and Alphabet chairman John Hennessy said Google was reluctant to use Bard in a product because it was “really ready,” according to CNBC.
Google has grappled with internal unrest surrounding its AI initiatives in recent years, as some employees fear the technology is immature and could lead to harm such as spreading prejudice or misinformation. At the same time, data and user feedback is a benefit for Google as it helps to further improve the answers in its AI systems.
“KI has endured many winters and springs,” Pichai said. “And now it’s blooming again. As an AI-first company, we have been working toward this for many years and we are ready for it.”
Read the full memo below:
Hello Googlers,
I’m very excited that we’re opening Bard up for an internal dogfood to get it ready for launch. This is an important step as we work to develop the technology responsibly – big thanks to the Bard team and to everyone who is spending time testing it. If you haven’t already checked it out, you can find instructions on how to participate on go/bard-dogfood.
I know this moment is uncomfortably exciting, and that’s to be expected: the underlying technology is evolving fast with so much potential. It’s going to be a long way – for everyone, across the field. The most important thing we can do now is focus on building a great product and developing it responsibly. That’s why we have thousands of external and internal testers testing Bard’s answers for quality, security, and authenticity using real-world information. Let’s take the challenge and keep iterating, also with users and developers.
And remember, some of our most successful products didn’t come first. They gained momentum because they met key user needs and were based on deep technical insights. Over time, we gained users’ trust and more and more people started to rely on them.
This is where we could use your help: Channel the energy and excitement of the moment into our products. Pressure test bard and make the product better. I would appreciate it if each of you would contribute 2-4 hours of your time more deeply. See below for more details.
KI has endured many winters and springs. And now it’s blooming again. As an AI-first company, we have been working on it for many years and we are ready for it. Let’s focus on providing amazing experiences for our users and bringing things to market that we can all be proud of.
-Sunday
Do you have a tip about Google? You can reach Hugh via encrypted email (hlangley@protonmail.com) or encrypted messaging apps Signal/Telegram (+1 628-228-1836). You can reach Thomas via email at tmaxwell@insider.com, Signal at 540.955.7134, or Twitter at @tomaxwell.
