The roster of serious ChatGPT rivals keeps growing

The market for chatbots is rapidly expanding as numerous tech companies seek to compete with industry giants such as Google and OpenAI in the race to develop advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.

OpenAI, a company backed by Microsoft, is in competition with Google and their Bard chatbot to develop the most advanced chatbot capable of innovation and potentially securing a dominant market position. Nonetheless, many other companies are also vying to enter the chatbot market by offering unique AI programs. These include chatbots designed to assist coders, enable users to role-play as historical figures, or aid in managing Slack messages, among other applications.

 

Here are the corporations that are incorporating artificial intelligence into their operations.

 

Slack

 

On Thursday, Salesforce, which owns Slack, revealed that it is introducing an AI-powered service within the app called "SlackGPT" to help users manage the platform. This new feature will be capable of writing custom messages in suitable tones, summarizing conversations, and taking notes while on a call. While CNBC reported that the company plans to launch this service next year, no specific date has been announced yet.

 

Amazone

 

In April, Amazon Web Services announced the launch of its large language model, which includes two variations named Titan and Bedrock. Titan will be responsible for generating text, while Bedrock will enhance web search personalization for users. Along with this, Amazon also introduced CodeWhisperer, an AI bot that helps developers detect and fix errors in their code by analyzing it and providing feedback. CodeWhisperer is a free product that is currently available.

 

Meta AI

 

On April 26, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed investors that the social media giant is investing heavily in AI. According to him, the company sees potential in introducing AI agents to billions of people in a useful and meaningful manner. Facebook is expanding its foray into AI by exploring the incorporation of chatbots into various messaging services it offers. However, it remains unclear when these services will be launched.

 

Anthropic

 

In March, an AI-focused startup founded by ex-OpenAI employees launched its own chatbot, named Claude. The bot can perform similar tasks to ChatGPT, but it is "much less likely to produce harmful outputs," "easier to converse with," and "more steerable," according to the startup.

 

Character.AI

 

Former Google engineers have created Character.AI, a chatbot that mimics and role-plays historical figures. The bot is designed to enable users to converse with famous historical figures, including William Shakespeare, and even some fictional characters. While the product was launched in September 2022, it is still in beta testing.

 

Open Source

 

A group of open-source AI developers has emerged as an unexpected competitor to giant corporations. These developers are addressing several of the issues that larger companies are currently facing.

 

According to a leaked document authored by a group of Google developers, "open-source models are faster, more customizable, more private, and pound-for-pound more capable." While the document acknowledged that products like Bard and ChatGPT still have a "slight edge" in terms of quality, the engineers predicted that this advantage would soon disappear.

 

Lawmakers are taking a closer look at the AI industry as products such as Bard and ChatGPT gain prominence. The White House recently announced that it was meeting with experts in the AI industry and launching new initiatives to promote innovation while assessing the safety risks associated with the technology.

 

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is collaborating with experts to draft legislation that would regulate AI in a bipartisan manner. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) has also introduced legislation to establish a task force to investigate AI policies and their impact on civil liberties.