Google employees mock Bard AI, say launch 'rushed' and 'botched'

Sundar Pichai (File image)

Google employees have reportedly mocked the announcement of Bard AI, the search giant's answer to OpenAI's ChatGPT, calling it "rushed" and "botched".

According to CNBC, employees filled the company's internal forum, Memegen, with memes on the announcement.

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Some were direct criticisms leveled at CEO Sundar Pichai, calling the launch and layoffs "myopic" and implored him to take "a long-term outlook".

Alphabet Inc's shares fell nearly 9 percent after incorrect information was shared in a promotional video.

The video in question offered an incorrect response to discoveries made from the James Webb Space Telescope, and falsely attributed the first pictures of a planet outside Earth's solar system to the James Webb Space Telescope.

The promotional video saw Google parent Alphabet Inc's market value plunge by more than $100 billion.

Employees were quick to point out that the recent layoffs drove the stock up by 3 percent but the Bard AI promotional video saw it slump nearly 9 percent.

Google is fast-tracking AI technologies into Search as Microsoft's ChatGPT integration with Bing and the Edge browser threaten its online dominance.

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Other popular memes floating around the forum featured Google's logo in a dumpster fire and there were several upvoted posts, which criticized the management for being "comically short sighted and un-Googley".

Another meme said  "rushing Bard to market in a panic validated the market's fear about us".

A former engineer at Google put out a tweet saying the company was not taking the launch seriously. He pointed out that the event was held in Paris, instead of Google headquarters, and the CEO was not present.

I think the Google presentation signaled (rightfully or wrongly) that they are not really taking it seriously: it was less than 5 minutes, it was presented amongst other feature, it was in Paris instead of HQ, CEO wasn't there. Bing, on the other hand, changed the homepage.

— Maarten Bosma (@MaartenBosma) February 9, 2023