Google has delayed the release of its Gemini, its next-generation AI chatbot, and will keep it under wraps until next year. The company announced its new language model at I/O 2023, stating that it would be the foundation for the next generation. Its debut was set for next week; however, Gemini won’t see the light until January 2024.
According to The Information, this multimodal chatbot, which would be the most powerful conversational AI created to date by Google, was set to make waves around the world next week at a series of events, starting in California, New York, and Washington, where the presence of American politicians and lawmakers was expected.
However, after some internal investigations, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, reportedly decided to once again postpone the launch of Gemini upon discovering that the AI didn’t handle certain queries that weren’t in English very well.
The compatibility with languages from around the world is a crucial factor for Google to ensure that Gemini surpasses GPT-4, OpenAI’s AI. This is of significant importance to Google, which has opted to delay one of its most anticipated releases to guarantee an adequate level of quality.
It’s also been said that Gemini might have significantly outperformed GPT-4 in private tests, thanks to the utilization of greater computational power compared to the latter. Pichai stated in November that “the company is focused on releasing Gemini 1.0 as soon as possible, ensuring it’s a competitive and cutting-edge product, and from there, we’ll continue building.”
Sissie Hsiao, vice president and director of Bard and Google Assistant, explained Gemini’s feats with an example: “I’ve seen incredible things. For instance, if I’m trying to make a pie, I just have to sketch out 3 steps to make a three-layer pie, and Gemini will create those images. They are entirely new images, not just images from the internet.”
