Google’s answer to ChatGPT is launched

The parent company Alphabet has not yet integrated the Bard chatbot into its search engine. Also: Tiktok boss wants to mobilize users to avert a US ban and Bitcoin is rallying.

Good morning! While you slept, work continued elsewhere in the digital scene.

The top topics:

Google and Microsoft want to win the race when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI). After Microsoft due to its investment in the AI ​​startup OpenAI and the viral chatbot ChatGPT, Google has to catch up. But a first presentation of the AI ​​text robot Bard did not go as well as hoped: Bard made a number of mistakes and ridicule followed on the Internet.

Nevertheless, Google Bard is now making it public. A limited number of users in the US and UK will have access to the artificial intelligence and will provide feedback. “It’s an early experiment that allows users to collaborate with generative AI,” Google executives Sissie Hsiao and Eli Collins wrote in a blog post. Colleagues from the US medium “Techcrunch” have already given initial feedback: They compared Bard with the ChatGPT developed by OpenAI and with Claude, from the AI ​​startup Anthropic is developed. After a series of very different tasks, their verdict was: “In a direct comparison, Google’s Bard lags behind GPT-4 and Claude.” You can read the individual examples here. [Mehr bei Techcrunch, Handelsblatt und Wall Street Journal]

On Founder Scene: In Germany it is only mandatory for large companies, but it is particularly popular with startups: der Advisory Board. Or also called “board” in modern German. But what is the real benefit of an advisory board and are there any disadvantages? Our colleague Daniel Hüfner spoke to founders and investors about this. [Mehr bei Gründerszene+]

And here are the other headlines of the night:

TiktokCEO Shou Zi Chew has asked users of the video platform for help to avert an impending ban on the app in the US. He asked users to explain to US lawmakers what they love so much about Tiktok in the comments column on his post. The manager appears to be hoping to have a better chance with positive feedback at his testimony before the US Congress this week. At the same time, Tiktok announced new terms and conditions. The company wants to spend more than 1.5 billion US dollars on data protection. [Mehr bei CNBC und Handelsblatt]

The Bitcoin was after the crypto exchange collapse FTX caught in a downward spiral. But the banking crisis has now helped the largest cryptocurrency to rally. Bitcoin is up 21 percent so far this month. Overall, the digital currency has achieved an increase of almost 70 percent since the beginning of the year. Bitcoin traded above $28,000 for the first time since June on Sunday. [Mehr bei Wall Street Journal]

Entlassungen: Marvell Technology, a maker of wireless, computing and memory chips, is cutting about 320 jobs, or four percent of its workforce. The Californian company is not the only chipmaker to announce job cuts. Also Intel, Micron Technology and others have made cuts. [Mehr bei Bloomberg]

Nvidia on Tuesday unveiled its plans to lease powerful and expensive supercomputers used to develop AI technologies like ChatGPT to companies. CEO Jensen Huang compared the current development of artificial intelligence with the wave of innovations that Apples iPhone in 2007. [Mehr bei Reuters und The Information]

Microsoft increases its prices for corporate customers: Office 365 and other products are becoming significantly more expensive – prices in Europe are expected to rise by eleven percent. Microsoft justifies the increase with exchange rate fluctuations. Experts suspect, however, that the market power of the US group made the self-confident appearance possible. The latter has increased again due to Microsoft’s pioneering role in the field of artificial intelligence. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt]

Our reading tip on Gründerszene: The startup 21Strategies programs a computer game in which soldiers can compete against artificial intelligence. This is of interest to armaments companies and the Bundeswehr. [Mehr bei Gründerszene+]

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Happy Wednesday!

Your Gründerszene editors