A former Google engineer says the company has bigger fish to fry with OpenAI’s “temporary prototype” search tool than its antitrust monopolist ruling and pending regulation

OpenAI’s SearchGPT could give Google a run for its money in search.

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What you need to know

What you need to know

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” indicated Judge Amit Mehta in his 277-page judgment ruling onGoogle’s dominance in the search landscape. While the tech giant awaits its fate and new direction as a business from US antitrust watchdogs, a new report byReuterssuggests it has bigger fish to fry.

As you may know, OpenAI recentlyventured into the search landscape with a temporary prototype dubbed SearchGPTdesigned to help users find quick responses and answers to queries in a conversational tone. While its access is limited to a few unnamed partners and publishers, OpenAI will use the feedback to improve the tool’s efficiency and possibly ship it to broad availability soon.

AI could give Google a run for its money

AI could give Google a run for its money

With the emergence of generative AI and AI-powered tools likeMicrosoft CopilotandChatGPT, people are starting to interact with the web differently. Expert analysts and investors in the sector say OpenAI’s SearchGPT is already having a similar effect and impacting Google’s user base.

While speaking to Reuters, former Google Engineer Arvind Jain indicated:

“I think for Google right now, AI (is) a much bigger deal than the ruling. AI is fundamentally changing how the search product also works.”

Jain added that while Google might have been ruled as a monopolist, its impact on the market might be stunted by appeals. The former engineer says AI poses a greater threat to Google’s dominance in search.

Other competitors in the search space have previously called out Google for its anti-competitive business practices designed to assert its dominance in the category. Microsoft isn’t exactlyspeck-free. Earlier this year, Mozilla placed the Redmond giant on the spot forusing harmful designs and deceptive tactics to give Edge a competitive advantage over other browsers in Windows.

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Ironically, Google recently flagged Microsoftusing its Bing Wallpaper app to get users to switch to “recommended browser settings”— Microsoft Edge and Bing. Bing has slowly gained traction thanks to Microsoft’s aggressive AI campaign across its products and services, pushing it to140 million daily active users in April.

Though the details remain slim at best, we know Google’s dominance in search doesn’t come cheap. It reportedly paidApple $26 billion to maintain its search engine as the default across its devices.

Interestingly, the iPhone maker admits there’s no alternative search engine it could transition to, while citingBing’s search quality issues. Apple says ‘there’s no price Microsoft could pay’ to make it ditch Google. At some point, Microsoft offered Bing to Apple for free, but the company still declined.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella indicated thatGoogle doesn’t play fair with Bing. Nadella indicated Microsoft was willing to part with $15 billion annually to attract a similar deal with Apple. It would be “a game-changing opportunity” the CEO concluded.

OpenAI and Microsoft stack miles ahead of Google in AI advances. Interestingly, AI models are reliant on Google for training. As you may know, Google hopped onto the AI bandwagon a tad later than its competitors, and it hasn’t been smooth sailing either. Its recentAI Overviews feature failureplaced Google in a bad light, but the company quickly fixed the issue,shifting the blame to a data-void and fabricated screenshots.

The younger generation is reportedly more drawn to “modern research” tools like ChatGPT. This is highlighted inChatGPT’s fast-growing revenue and downloads on mobile.

While AI seems highly promising as a research tool that could potentially give Google a run for its money, it’s still riddled with critical issues, including misinformation and overdependence on Google for training.

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. You’ll also catch him occasionally contributing at iMore about Apple and AI. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.