MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca. – Google is adding new features to its Workspace products, giving users of Gmail and Google Docs direct access to a ChatGPT-like AI writing assistant — but when it’ll be available for everyone is still TBD.
Generative AI: Generative AI — software trained to produce text, images, and other content in response to user prompts — is the biggest thing in tech right now.
This is due in no small part to the efforts of OpenAI, a research firm co-founded by then-Y Combinator president Sam Altman — in 2022, the firm released a state-of-the-art image generator, DALL-E 2, followed by a hugely popular text generator, ChatGPT.
Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, has already used the tech behind ChatGPT to upgrade its new Bing search engine and Edge browser, and it will soon be integrated into Outlook, Word, and the MS Office suite.
Google’s play: In response to ChatGPT’s potential threat to its search business, Google execs declared a “code red” in December that has led to a major push within the company to develop similar AI products.
In February, it announced Bard, a ChatGPT-like AI that it was making available to “trusted testers” ahead of a public release. Now, it is giving testers access to new generative AI features for Google Workspace products, starting with an AI writing assistant for Gmail and Google Docs.
“We’re now making it possible for Workspace users to harness the power of generative AI to create, connect, and collaborate like never before,” writes Johanna Voolich Wright, VP of Product at Google Workspace.
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