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Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Everything we expect from Google's I/O developer conference
Google (GOOG, GOOGL) will host its annual I/O developers conference at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA, on Wednesday. And you can bet CEO Sundar Pichai will have plenty to say about Big Tech’s latest obsession: generative AI.
Google is an AI juggernaut for sure. But the company’s recent stumbles, namely its botched unveiling of its Bard chatbot and slow rollout of generative AI capabilities across its various products, have the tech giant playing catchup to arch rival Microsoft (MSFT) and its own Bing chatbot.
And the push to change that should kick off in earnest at I/O.
“What I would anticipate from Google I/O is a very strong generative AI-forward message where Google re-seizes the mantle for AI leadership…and you will likely see announcements specifically focused on that,” Gartner Analyst Chirag Dekate told Yahoo Finance.
Going all out on generative AI
Google has already made its own generative AI product announcements to combat Microsoft’s Bing. Bard, Google’s chatbot, is available to select trusted users, and the company is rolling out waitlist invites to people who want to get access to generative AI features in its Google Workspace productivity suite.
You should expect to hear plenty of other announcements tied to both of those products.
“I would not be surprised if Google announced that it's expanding those features to Google Sheets or to Google Slides, or to make them more generally available to the masses not trusted trusted testers,” Forrester Analyst Nikhil Lai told Yahoo Finance.
“Google, I think, bungled its launch of Bard. The stock tumbled when they fumbled that launch and the inaccuracy of Bard has been problematic,” Lai said. “When when users sign into Bard it talks about the limitations...so I think we'll see some enhancements there.”
It’s not just about Bard and Workspace, though. Google will likely announce new generative AI features across its product lines including its all-important search engine.
According to The New York Times, Google is developing a new feature for its search engine that will allow users to interact with an AI bot. The initiative, codenamed Magi, would also include more visual responses and posts from social media sites.
Google’s search business powers the company’s massive advertising division, which generates the bulk of its $283 billion in revenue in 2022. Any changes to its search product are a risky endeavor, but with Microsoft’s Bing already bringing AI chatbots to search, Google has to respond.
“The good news is I think the market is headed where Google has been traditionally quite strong,” Dekate explained. “Google has always been, ever since its inception…an AI-centric company. The only problem is that Google has not spoken a lot about what they've been doing in generative AI for the longest time.”
That should change at I/O, though, as the company looks to put its generative AI chops on full display.
Hardware galore
But Google isn’t just expected to roll out AI apps and services. The company will also show off its Pixel Fold smartphone. We already got a look at the foldable handset thanks to a teaser Google posted of the phone last week.
Like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Pixel Fold features a cover display and a foldable internal display that opens up into a larger tablet-style screen. There appears to be a three camera setup on the back of the phone, suggesting it’ll sport telephoto, ultra-wide angle, and wide angle lenses. According to CNBC, the Pixel Fold will cost upwards of $1,700.
Google is also expected to debut a new entry-level smartphone called the Pixel 7A. According to CNET, the phone, which is a low-cost version of last year’s Pixel 7, will get many of its stablemate’s features and cost $499.
There’s also reportedly a Pixel Tablet in the works. And you can likely expect to get a glimpse at Google’s upcoming Android 14 and maybe even its next-generation smartphone, the Pixel 8.
Be sure to check back in at Yahoo Finance for all of the news out of Google I/O when it kicks off Wednesday, May 10.
By Daniel Howley, tech editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him @DanielHowley
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