Google has postponed a series of top-secret artificial intelligence (AI) events intended to showcase the company's generative AI tool Gemini, according to The Information. If true, this is another blow to Google's efforts to compete with the likes of ChatGPT in the AI world – although Gemini is still expected to launch soon.
As detailed in a paywalled report from The Information, the Gemini event would take place in a few days, with the first one kicking off next week. Still, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has apparently made the decision to delay the decision until January 2024, according to “two people with knowledge of the decision.”
The reason for the delay? Google had no confidence in Gemini's ability to “reliably handle some non-English queries,” The Information claims. Google wants to make sure its AI tool works well in a number of languages, and it's clearly not quite there yet.
The events – which were to take place in California, New York and Washington – would apparently have been “Google's most important product launch of the year,” due to how eager Google is to catch up to OpenAI's ChatGPT. That means delaying them could be a big blow to Google, even if they eventually happen in early 2024.
In the shadow of ChatGPT
Despite the approaching dates, Google had not promoted the events much (perhaps due to concerns about Gemini's capabilities). Ultimately, this meant that the company managed to avoid an embarrassing withdrawal or cancellation of already announced events.
Still, Google probably won't be very happy with the situation. The delay shows the company's struggle to catch up with OpenAI, despite its vast wealth and technical capabilities. It's also the second time in recent weeks that Google has reportedly had to postpone its Gemini events.
It comes shortly after OpenAI reportedly made a big breakthrough with its own generative AI efforts. This tool would be able to solve problems it isn't trained to solve, something AI traditionally finds difficult, increasing the pressure on Google to hit back.
Google will likely weave Gemini's AI capabilities into its other products such as Search, Google Assistant, Google Docs and more, The Information believes, so keep an eye out for AI updates if you regularly use the company's apps. Don't expect these changes until early next year.