😺 The future of search

PLUS: We were wrong, but we're doubling down...

Welcome, humans.

The NYT created this nifty little quiz, akin to our Thursday Trivia, that asks if a face is AI-generated or real. Reckon you can still sniff out AI trickery? Give it a whirl and share your score with us (ours was a humbling 4 out of 10)!

Here’s what you need to know about AI today:

Google's search empire remains unshaken by AI...for now.
AI-generated spam is infecting Google's search results.
Researchers developed a new tool to protect artists.
xAI raised $500M, halfway to its $1B target.

Google still dominates search, despite AI concerns.

Here’s something you don’t often hear from journalists: we were wrong.

Yep, last year, we bet that generative AI would disrupt online search, arguing that a chatbot rattling off answers in seconds beats sifting through a sea of suggested blue links.

But according to StatCounter, Google still dominates search with 92% market share, while Bing, even with its ChatGPT upgrade, lags at 3.37%.

So what’s the dealio?!

Turns out, AI search experiences so far, for the most part, have been flat-out bad, including Bing, Bard, and he who must not be named: Google SGE. They’re slow, clunky, and hallucinate…A LOT.

But, TBH, non-AI search experiences are also a bit rough these days.

A 404 Media investigation found that Google News has been increasingly “boosting garbage AI-generated articles”.
Plus, we continue to witness a surge in people hacking their way to the top of Google Search results by spamming trash-y AI blog posts.

*we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with a brief message from our sponsor…*

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AI search will improve & triumph in the long run.

We’re doubling down on the prediction that AI aggregators are the future of search, not keyword wizardry as it currently stands. However, we acknowledge that it could take a damn long time.

Remember, it literally took Google Chrome an entire decade to take over internet browsers.

“We are at the gold rush moment when it comes to AI and search. At the moment, I doubt AI will move the needle because, in search, you need a flywheel: the more searches you have, the better answers are. Google is the only firm who has this dynamic well-established.”

Shane Greenstein, economist & HBS professor, per Bloomberg.

Our dark horse for who eventually moves the needle? Perplexity.

We’ve been using the Bezos-backed search engine for a while and consistently choose it for quick queries instead of tapping Google. We’ve also been hearing from many AI power users that Perplexity has become their new go-to chatbot.

Perplexity’s search interest over time

We wouldn’t be shocked if Perplexity receives a billion-dollar bid from Google, Microsoft, or Apple within the next 12 months…but here's to hoping they'll turn it down. 😉

Around the Horn.

Sam Altman is in talks with Middle Eastern investors & TSMC about raising billions to manufacture semiconductors.
Stability AI launched a new, small LLM called Stable LM 2 1.6B.
Elon Musk’s xAI raised $500M and is “discussing a valuation” of $15-20B.
Both the DOJ and the FTC want to investigate Microsoft and OpenAI’s partnership.
Researchers developed a novel tool, “Nightshade,” to shield artists from copyright theft.