Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks in an interview with Emily Chang during the APEC CEO Summit at Moscone West on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. The APEC summit is being held in San Francisco and continues until November 17.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Alphabets CEO Sundar Photosi has a challenge Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the AI ​​conference.
Well, kind of.
“I would like to do a side-by-side comparison of Microsoft’s models and our models at any time, any time,” said Photosi, speaking at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit on Wednesday with Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Photosi’s comments come after Sorkin read aloud comments from an interview Nadella gave earlier this year, in which the Microsoft CEO questioned Google’s place in the AI ​​arms race following the giant’s AI product mishaps earlier this year.
“Google should have been the default winner in the world of the great AI technology race,” Nadella said in March on the Norges Bank Investment Management podcast. “Google is a very talented company and they obviously have both the talent and the computing. They are a very integrated player in this. They have everything from data to silicon to models to products and distribution.”
“You guys were the first when it came to AI,” Sorkin told Pichasi after reading Nadella’s comments. He asked Photosi, “Where [do] How do you think you are related to these other players?”
“They’re using someone else’s models,” Photosi added after saying he’d like to do a side-by-side comparison.
“He’s throwing down the gauntlet,” Sorkin replied.
Laughing, Photosi shook his head and added, “I just – I have a lot of respect for them and the team.”
Large-scale Language Models are a type of artificial intelligence that can analyze and reproduce human language, trained on large amounts of data. While Microsoft has its own AI models, many of the advanced capabilities in its latest offerings are powered by OpenAI LLMs.
The market for chatbots and related AI tools has exploded since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, giving consumers a new way to search for information online without traditional search. Soon after, Microsoft announced a partnership with OpenAI to include ChatGPT in the Bing search engine.
Google has used its LLMs for years to power its artificial intelligence and search products. Google’s latest LLMs are its Gemini series, which powers its conversational AI that competes with OpenAI’s GPT models. The company announced the most advanced Gemini products in May.
The latest comments come as tech companies are embroiled in a growing AI arms race, particularly between Microsoft and Google.
In October, Microsoft took the unusual step of publicly accusing longtime rival Google of conducting “reputation campaigns” in Europe, saying those efforts were designed to discredit the search giant and regulators.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Photosi’s comments.
WATCH: Google subpoenas AI rivals after DOJ forces Chrome spinoff