The sudden emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has completely changed the way we search on the internet. Many individuals and organizations utilize the power of ChatGPT to complete a lot of tasks nowadays. Instead of browsing through different websites just to gather data, you can easily get all the information on one page. Thanks to the simplicity and intelligence of ChatGPT.
This easy way of making research with the help of AI comes as an exciting news for everyone but not companies like Google. ChatGPT is one of the biggest threats to Google’s search engine dominance. Google is now working tirelessly to find a solution to this big threat. However, all efforts are yielding few results. Especially after Microsoft invested heavily in the OpenAI’s technology.
As you may already know, OpenAI’s chatbot is very intelligent. It can respond to complex questions within a short time just like a human would. Due to this, the internet world sees Google search quite differently these days. There is more to searching online than just flipping through various webpages. This clearly shows how much technology has advanced, to the point that an AI can do the work of humans. 
Google launched Bard as a competitor to ChatGPT. However, many still doubt Google’s leadership in the field of AI. Even though the company is one of the starters of Artificial Intelligence. This goes as far as the company’s headquarters in Mountain View California. There are growing concerns internally about Google’s ability to remain competitive in this field.
Engineer of the group by name Luke Sernau has shared some of these doubts in a message. This message is said to be circulating internally since April. Sernau is concerned about Google’s focus on competing with OpenAI. This rivalry has negative consequences because it causes Google to lose sight of another dangerous competitor.
Google Needs to Worry More About Open-source Community AI Models and Tools 
This competitor happens to be the open-source community. The open-source community is composed of researchers who do not work with any tech companies. They are making faster discoveries and advancements in AI than both Google and OpenAI. Sernau suggest that Google could rather focus on collaborating with the open-source community rather than competing with OpenAI.
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He wrote: “We’ve done a lot of looking over our shoulders at OpenAI. Who will cross the next milestone? What will the next move be? But the uncomfortable truth is, we aren’t positioned to win this arms race, and neither is OpenAI. While we’ve been squabbling, a third faction has been quietly eating our lunch.
“I’m talking, of course, about open source. Plainly put, they are lapping us. Things we consider ‘major open problems’ are solved and in people’s hands today,” he said.
Open-source communities are running foundation models on a Pixel 6 at a record speed, he explained. They can finetune a personalized AI on your laptop in an evening. And an entire website full of art models with no restrictions whatsoever; and text is not far behind.
Sernau believes that Google’s biggest rival is not OpenAI. It is rather the open-source community. These communities are developing AI models and tools that are cheaper, faster and more easily adaptable. They can easily adjust to client’s requirement than what tech companies like Google develop.
A Proposition to Google AI 
“While our models still hold a slight edge in terms of quality, the gap is closing astonishingly quickly. Open-source models are faster, more customizable, more private, and pound-for-pound more capable,” Sernau argued. “We have no secret sauce. Our best hope is to learn from and collaborate with what others are doing outside Google.”
Furthermore, he warned Google against errors they could make today. Saying that the company could have great commercial consequences in future.
He then went ahead to suggest that people are not willing to pay for an AI model that is completely free somewhere else. Hence, it is very important to consider where the real value lies. Large models that are developed by big companies are actually slowing down the growth of AI. “The best models are those that we can quickly improve upon, he said.”
In conclusion, Sernau emphasized that Google’s focus on competing with OpenAI could be misguided. In the long run, it could lead to the downfall of the company. The open-source community is developing more faster and adaptable AI models. This alone makes them the real threats. Google and OpenAI both have closed policies. This could limit their ability to collaborate with outside researchers and developers.
“The modern internet runs on open source for a reason. Open source has some significant advantages that we cannot replicate, he concluded.”
