AI and chatbots grow in popularity: Microsoft Bing starts downloading 10 times more, and Alibaba tests its ChatGPT analog

The release of ChatGPT chatbot by OpenAI at the end of 2022 led to a real race between the technology giants: each of them is in a hurry to introduce its own chatbot based on artificial intelligence. Microsoft equipped its search engine Bing with chatbot based on ChatGPT, and the news about it has greatly increased the popularity of Bing’s mobile application: it began to be downloaded 10 times more.

Meanwhile, Alibaba created its ChatGPT counterpart and is now testing it. Google recently introduced its chatbot. However, its first demonstration ended in failure: the chatbot in a promotional video gave wrong information in an answer to a question about the discoveries of the James Webb telescope.

Popularity of Bing mobile app increased by 10 times

The introduction of new AI functions has attracted a lot of attention to the Microsoft search engine: its mobile version, according to TechCrunch, began to be downloaded 10 times more than before.

According to the Data AI analytics service, in the U.S. the Bing app climbed to 12th place in the top free apps for iOS, and Microsoft Edge browser, which also introduces AI features, climbed to third place. Among users worldwide, Bing moved up to No. 10.

It is expected that the introduction of AI in the search engine Bing and in the browser Edge will raise the Internet search service to a whole new level, not only giving more complete answers to user queries, but also allowing to create content. In the future, Microsoft plans to embed the chatbot in the Windows 11 operating system, where it will become an AI assistant for all users.

Alibaba created an analogue of ChatGPT

The Chinese company Alibaba Group said that it has developed its analogue of ChatGPT. Now the development is at the stage of internal testing.

In the future, Alibaba plans to integrate the chatbot into the communication app DingTalk, which is an analog of Zoom.

“Advanced innovations such as big language models and generative AI have been our focus since the creation of DAMO [Alibaba Research Institute] in 2017. As a technology leader, we will continue to invest in integrating cutting-edge technology into applications for the benefit of the customers as well as their customers through cloud services,” an Alibaba spokesperson said.

According to CNN, amid this news, Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares rose 1.4 percent.