Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has weighed in on AI, saying the company that launches the first real AI personal assistant will disrupt the industry.
Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, and others are racing to develop true artificial intelligence. Microsoft, in particular, sees AI as a way to disrupt the search industry and cut into Google’s dominance.
Gates sees AI’s potential as reaching far beyond that, potentially ending people’s need for search engine sites altogether.
“Whoever wins the personal agent, that’s the big thing, because you will never go to a search site again, you will never go to a productivity site, you’ll never go to Amazon again,” he said, according to CNBC.
“I’d be disappointed if Microsoft didn’t come in there,” Gates said. “But I’m impressed with a couple of startups, including Inflection,”
Gates says he believes its 50-50 whether the next big AI will be developed by a startup or a Big Tech company.
His thoughts echo those of a Google engineer who recently warned that Google and Microsoft could get outmaneuvered by a startup and ultimately lose the AI wars.