This Week in AI: ChatGPT goes after Google

The increasing competition between Apple, Facebook owner Meta, Google owner Alphabet, Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI continues to heat up. The latest move came from OpenAI, which released an updated version of its ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot that allows it to search the web, taking aim at the world's most popular website, Google.

Starting Thursday, OpenAI made its search function available for paid subscribers, effectively enabling access to real-time information through internet search functions. The project allows ChatGPT to tap into live stock market prices, news articles, and other data with clickable citation links, powered in part by the company's growing stable of content partnerships, including with Hearst, News Corp, Condé Nast, Dotdash Meredith, Axel Springer, Reuters, The Associated Press and many more.

"ChatGPT search promises to better highlight and attribute information from trustworthy news sources, benefiting audiences while expanding the reach of publishers like ourselves who produce premium journalism," said Pam Wasserstein, president of Vox Media, which also struck an agreement with OpenAI.

For its part, OpenAI said its new feature is designed to help people find information in a more natural way.

"Getting useful answers on the web can take a lot of effort," the company wrote in a blog post announcing its new features. Now, people can "ask a question in a more natural, conversational way, and ChatGPT can choose to respond with information from the web."

People can also "go deeper with follow-up questions, and ChatGPT will consider the full context of your chat to get a better answer for you," the company added.

Apple Intelligence is here

Apple released the public test version of its Apple Intelligence technology this week with software updates for its iPads, Mac computers, and iPhones. The new software includes features such as text message and email thread summaries, as well as new writing tools and other features designed to be helpful in daily life.

Just a few days after its release, Apple CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that the new software was being downloaded at twice the rate of last year's software update around the same time. Apple also announced upgrades for its Mac Mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro computers this week, shortly before it reported better-than-expected sales of its iPhones.

Ethical AI comes to music

Universal Music Group announced this week that it struck a deal with Klay Vision, a startup that says it is building an "ethical foundational model for AI-generated music."

The move marks a key shift after major record companies including Sony, Warner and Universal, announced in the summer that they were suing two music AI startups for copyright infringement. The companies, Udio and Suno, offer technology that can create a song from a text prompt. But the recording giants said viral videos of the AI reproducing near-exact recreations of popular holiday songs were indicators that the companies had stolen their work.

Klay, by comparison, wants to become "the backbone for a new era of innovation, powering new products and experiences, committed to the premise that AI can bolster and grow musical creativity and human artistry," according to Universal and Klay's joint statement.

Google Photos gets more transparent with AI

Google is expanding its efforts to label content produced or modified by AI in its popular Google Photos app. The company said it's going to begin appending details about AI edits to photos touched by its AI tools, including the popular Magic Eraser which can remove unwanted (often background) objects from photos.

The new data will appear in a new section called "AI Info," alongside other details like the image's file name, where it was taken, and its size. 

"This work is not done," Google said in a statement. "We’ll continue gathering feedback and evaluating additional solutions to add more transparency around AI edits."

For their parts, Apple, Facebook, and Instagram owner Meta, TikTok and other companies are attempting to implement similar transparency features, sometimes with mixed results.

White House AI rules

The election may be around the corner, but President Joe Biden is still issuing governmental orders, including a new one on AI and national security.

The new "National Security Memorandum," as it's called, directs the U.S. Government to "implement concrete and impactful steps to (1) ensure that the United States leads the world’s development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI; (2) harness cutting-edge AI technologies to advance the U.S. Government’s national security mission; and (3) advance international consensus and governance around AI," the White House said. 

The announcements are the latest in a string of moves from the executive branch, setting policies and rules for AI development, as well as its use in the federal government.

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Ian Sherr is a widely published journalist who's covered nearly every major tech company from Apple to Netflix, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more for CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNET. Aside from writing, he tinkers with tech at home, is a longtime fencer -- the kind with swords -- and began woodworking during the pandemic.