Amazon is reportedly working on its own AI chatbot that could be smarter than ChatGPT
Amazon is reportedly working on its own AI chatbot, codenamed “Metis,” which will work similarly to ChatGPT.
According to Business insiderwho spoke ‘to people familiar with the project’, the new platform will be accessible via a web browser. They also reviewed an internal document revealing the chatbot’s potential capabilities. It will provide text answers to questions in a ‘conversational way’. provide links to resources, suggest follow-up questions, and even generate images.
So far it seems like Metis is performing just like any other generative AI, but soon things start to diverge. The company apparently wants to use a technique called ‘retrieval-augmented generation’, or RAG for short. It gives Metis the ability to collect information beyond the initial training data, giving the AI a major advantage over its rivals.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, works by accessing a data reservoir when a user enters a prompt, but that reservoir has a cut-off date that varies between models of the service. For example, GPT-4 Turbo has a cutoff date of December 2023. It is unaware of what has happened so far in 2024.
Powering the AI chatbot
It is unknown whether Amazon has implemented RAG at the time of Business Insider’s report. Metis will also act as an ‘AI agent’. Based on the description given, the service could function as a kind of smart home assistant, “automating and performing complex tasks.” This includes, but is not limited to, turning on lights, creating vacation itineraries and booking flights.
The report then reveals some of the technologies powering Metis. The AI runs on a new internal AI model called Olympus, which is supposed to be a better version of Amazon’s “publicly available Titan.” The company even brought in people from the Alexa team to help with development. In fact, Metis uses “some of the (same) resources” as the long-rumored Alexa upgrade.
Different poses
The attitude towards the AI chatbot varies between different parts of the company. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy seems very interested in the project, as he is directly involved in its development and often reviews the team’s progress. Others, however, are less enthusiastic. One of the sources told Business Insider that they felt the company was way overdue to celebrate. Rival companies are so ahead that chasing may not be worth it.
The report notes that Amazon’s AI activities were largely duds. The Titan model is considered weaker than competing models; their Amazon Q business chatbot isn’t great, and their Trainnium and Inferentia AI chips are in low demand. Amazon needs a big win to stay in the AI space.
Sources claim that Metis will launch in September, around the same time that Amazon plans to hold its next big event. However, the date could change at any time. Nothing is set in stone at this time.
While we’ve got you, check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best AI chatbots for 2024.