DeepMind, a UK-based company, authored a research paper on generative AI approximately a decade ago. This pioneering work not only inspired Google to acquire DeepMind but also contributed to the formation of OpenAI. Google likely perceived DeepMind as a potential rival to its search engine and may have sought to suppress the technology.
Fast forward to the end of 2022, and ChatGPT was unveiled to the public as the user interface for OpenAI, marking a departure from its previous strategy of indirectly licensing its technology to software manufacturers.
Microsoft has since been developing generative search as a means to signal and compete with Google's content. Modern search engines utilize hundreds of signals to rank content, a significant evolution from Google's original method, which relied solely on the number of websites linking to each site to determine its ranking.
Google's founders anticipated that other search engines might decipher their methodology or that spammers could manipulate the system with artificial backlinks. Consequently, they considered selling Google but ultimately decided against acquisition.
The acquisition of a small company named Urchin, now known as Google Analytics, was a pivotal move for Google. By implementing a tracking code on nearly every website globally, Google could gain deeper insights into user engagement with content, which then became a crucial signal for content ranking. However, despite many search engines being able to rank content using numerous signals, they lack access to the most vital one: engagement with content.
Furthermore, this tracking script enabled Google to monitor users' internet browsing habits, significantly enhancing its advertising system's competitive edge in display advertising. This strategy was subsequently adopted by Facebook, which emerged as the world's second-largest advertising company.
Google then acquired a Display advertising company, and YouTube allowing them to monetise people's personal data to a greater extent.
Google then went on to make more acquisitions than any other country in history, who knows how many technologies have been suppressed?
As new privacy laws are applied, this could limit Google's tracking ability- its key differentiation as a Search engine.
If generative Search becomes the main signal or one of the main ones, it could make the Search engine market more competitive.
As we move into 2023, DeepMind's employees have observed the success of ChatGPT and reflected on what might have been had they pursued an independent path. The primary founder of DeepMind publicly expressed a desire for greater autonomy from Google. Subsequently, Google disbanded its own AI department (Google Brain) and granted DeepMind increased authority. Additionally, Google invested in an external AI company to operate with more independence.
Recently, it was announced that some DeepMind personnel are leaving to establish their own venture. Reportedly backed by hundreds of millions in investment funding, there is speculation about founding the company in France, positioning it as a competitor to ChatGPT and Google.
In conclusion, monopolies or/and anti-competitive practices tend to hinder progress. They focus more on preserving market share than on innovating and adding value, deviating from their original purpose