Google vs Microsoft: Microsoft's New Bing Is a Paradigm Change for Search and the Browser

This is part 1 of a three-part article series covering the recent news on AI involving OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, ChatGPT, the New Bing, and Bard, and how the events will unfold into a new era for AI, search, and the web (I'll add here part 2 and part 3 once they're published). That's the best way to describe what the AI industry has lived since Monday. Google and Microsoft are at the hottest point in their long-term relationship and everything is because of ChatGPT. In a surprise event on Tuesday, Microsoft announced the New Bing, powered by a "next-generation" AI model by OpenAI, just one day after Google disclosed they will soon release a ChatGPT competitor named Bard, and one day before its official presentation. We're living through a paradigm change in the way companies do AI with OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google (among others) as the leading characters of what promises to be an epic play. AI has turned into a product-focused blooming landscape that keeps the foot on the gas pedal. Many predicted this outcome the very moment OpenAI released ChatGPT--which recently topped off a record-breaking ascent to being the "fastest-growing consumer application" ever. Even zooming out, these events--from ChatGPT's release on Nov 30 to Microsoft's and Google's announcements this week--reflect a salient milestone in the history of AI (even if not technically speaking, at least at every other level). The AI industry will be deeply marked by them for the foreseeable future. This is my attempt to frame the facts objectively and hypothesize on the impending future that's looming over us.