Samsung is reportedly close to a deal to make Microsoft Bing the default search engine on its smartphones and tablets.
The race to integrate the best AI capabilities into web search has intensified. With the recent launch of Bing AI, powered by ChatGPT, Microsoft makes life difficult for Google. Only today Samsung plans to switch to Bing on its Galaxy phones and tablets.
Samsung’s decision to make Bing the default search engine for its Galaxy devices has put Google into “panic” mode. As the newspaper says The New York Times, the search giant would be convinced that this decision is explained by the functions of IA. That’s why he’s working flat out to integrate the “Magi” AI into his search engine and to propose a counter-project to Samsung.
If Samsung decides to stop using Google as its default search engine, it would jeopardize an existing deal between the two companies worth around $3 billion a year.
What is Google doing?
Surprised by Bing’s sudden rise to power with ChatGPT, Google was late with its own artificial intelligence tool; “Google Bard”. Fearing being overtaken again, Google is said to have accelerated the implementation of AI in its search engine with a new project called “Project Magi”.
In order to offer a much more personalized search tool, Google would have dedicated a large part of its employees to it. Presumably to preview in time for the Google I/O 2023 event in May and win back Samsung’s favor.
« Not every brainstorming session and project idea leads to a launch, but as we’ve said before, we’re excited to bring new AI-powered features to the search engine, and we’ll be sharing more details with you soon Google spokeswoman Lara Levin said in a statement.
Bing, a threat to Google?
Bing, the search engine developed by Microsoft, was launched in 2009 as a direct competitor to Google. Since then, Bing has made tremendous strides and managed to gain market share, especially in the United States. However, Google remains the No. 1 in the world with 93% market share.
In recent months, Bing’s threat to Google’s search dominance has become more credible. This is thanks to OpenAI’s technology, which is able to provide “ChatGPT” level responses to user requests.
Samsung’s move is the first opportunity for a breach in Google’s seemingly impregnable search business. While it was unclear if Microsoft’s AI work was the main reason Samsung was considering a switch after all these years, that remains the prevailing assumption at Google.
