Google releases new AI model Gemini – but not in the UK
Google has unveiled its latest artificial intelligence (AI) model, Gemini, which is touted to be better than ChatGPT.
Gemini was created by Deepmind, the London-based AI startup that is owned by Google.
Google has said it will now start integrating Gemini into the tech giant’s products, starting with an upgrade to the Bard chatbot, which is scheduled for release across 170 countries including the US on Wednesday.
But the upgrade will not happen in the UK and Europe until regulatory approval has been granted.
Google said it is in discussions with the UK’s AI Safety Institute and hopes to release the upgrade in the UK next year.
Deepmind chief, Demis Hassabis, said: “It’s been the most complicated project we’ve ever worked on, I would say the biggest undertaking. It’s been an enormous effort.”
Google claims Gemini is more advanced than OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which launched last year, because it can perform better in various tests and have superior reasoning abilities.
It is also described as “multimodal,” meaning it can understand text, audio, images, video and computer code at the same time.
Distinguished VP analyst and Gartner fellow, Daryl Plummer, said Google has gone from being “counted out” to “leapfrogging” innovations with the introduction of Gemini.
He explained: “Google needed to set the bar high for how these models will evolve. Gemini does this by delivering natively multimodal capabilities that can unify AI functionality across many different application styles.
“The question of whether there are diminishing returns on large model sizes has not yet been answered. Google has not released data on the quantity of parameters on which Gemini is trained.
“However, the use of general language models will continue to rise as their facility and usefulness grows. Gemini represents a new bar in that effort. Google must make a stronger connection to enterprise problems but, for now, no-one should be taking Google’s AI efforts for granted any more,” Plummer added.
It comes as world’s richest man Elon Musk confirmed he is also trying to join AI race, seeking $1bn (£0.8bn) in funding for his chatbot xAI.