Alphabet disappoints investors with underwhelming AI showcase

1. On Wednesday, Google hosted its AI event, showcasing its new Bard chatbot and artificial intelligence-powered feature for Maps and Lens. A lack of AI improvements for Google's core search function and a mistake made by Bard in an advertisement worried investors, causing Alphabet's stock to drop 7% later in the day.

2. In an interview with the Financial Times, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made it clear that he plans for the ChatGPT-powered Bing to crush the high margins of Google's search business, saying, "from now on, the [gross margin] of search is going to drop forever."

3. Google is expanding its misinformation "prebunking" initiative to Germany after seeing promising results in Eastern Europe. The program aims to combat misinformation by teaching people to identify false claims through video ads on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

4. Alphabet Chairman John Hennessy is still skeptical that Google's Bard chatbot is product-ready, calling it a "demonstration vehicle" and speculating that generative AI still needs one to two years before its beneficial to the general public.

5. Following Google's lackluster AI showcase, employees criticized the event in the company's internal forum, Memegen. According to CNBC, staffers called the announcement of Google's ChatGPT competitor Bard "rushed," "botched," and "un-Googley."

6. At its AI showcase last week, Google announced new features for Maps, most notably the rollout of Immersive View in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo. Combining Street View and aerial images, Immersive View creates a digital model of the world, showing the inside and outside of buildings.

7. Google is launching its AI-powered "multisearch" feature, which enables searching both text and images simultaneously to mobile users globally anywhere Google Lens is available.