Shares of giant tech company Google have plunged by 8% which is reported to have wiped out $100 million from the company’s valuation after its AI chatbot “Bard” answered a question incorrectly.
According to reports, Google’s AI chatbot claimed that NASA’s James Webb space telescope took the first image of an exoplanet but was wildly wrong. The first image was reported to be taken in 2003, by the European Southern observer’s very large telescope.
Google used the question and incorrect answer Bard generated via a video GIF on Twitter to showcase how the AI chatbot works.
The company wrote, “Bard is an experimental conversational AI service powered by LaMDA, built using our large language models and drawing on information from the web. It is a launchpad for curiosity and can help simplify complex topics.
The incorrect response given by Google’s chatbot Bard stirred mixed reactions as some Twitter users couldn’t help but fault the chatbot.
A Twitter user wrote under Google’s post, “Why didn’t you fact-check this example before sharing it? If you use Google to look stuff up, you will see Bard has made errors. Try Googling; “When was the first direct image of an exoplanet made”.
Also, founder and market analyst at Triple D trading Dennis Dick said, “This is a hiccup there and they are severely punishing the stock for it, which is justified because everybody is pretty excited to see what Google’s going to counter with Microsoft coming out with a pretty decent product”.
After being considered one of the market leaders in technology, Google appears to have been caught off guard by other competitors which can negatively impact the company.
Investors King understands that the incorrect answer generated by Google’s AI Chatbot isn’t the only factor leading to the plunge in its share price.
In comparison to what Microsoft unveiled at its AI presentation, some investors feel that Google’s AI presentation was lackluster, noting that it didn’t offer any insight into how the company would compete against Microsoft’s exceptional offerings.