Microsoft will make ChatGPT tech available for other companies to customize, source says

Microsoft CNBC has learned that it plans to release software similar to ChatGPT later this year to help large companies build their own chatbots.

In the two months since startup OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public, it has become a hit, impressing people with its ability to comment on a variety of topics and in many styles. UBS analysts said last week that the video-sharing app is on track to reach 100 million monthly active users faster than TikTok.

Microsoft is trying to gain traction in a number of ways. The company provides the cloud computing backend for ChatGPT, and in January Microsoft said it invested billions of dollars in OpenAI. Microsoft is also working to incorporate OpenAI technologies into its products. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it is enhancing Bing, its search engine, and Edge, its Internet browser, with ChatGPT-like technology.

In addition, Microsoft plans to announce technology for companies, schools and governments to build their own bots with ChatGPT, according to a person briefed on the matter, who spoke on private projects. He asked not to be named. Microsoft envisions helping clients launch new chatbots or improve their existing ones with new technology, suggesting responses for call center agents to use during customer service interactions, the person said. can do

ChatGPT’s underlying artificial intelligence model currently can’t adequately answer anything beyond 2021, as it hasn’t been trained on recent information. But Microsoft plans to launch chatbots alongside its business chat GPT service to contain up-to-date information, the person said.

The service should also provide referrals to specific resources, the person said, as the new Bing and Edge will do. (The current public version of ChatGPT does not cite sources.)

ChatGPT for OpenAI is not cheap. Each chat probably costs “single-digit cents,” Altman said in one December tweet, suggests that serving chat to 100 million people a month could cost millions of dollars. Like other cloud infrastructure providers, Microsoft is also mindful of customer costs and likely doesn’t want service clients to pay more than they realize. To that end, Microsoft plans to give users tools to estimate and limit costs, the person said.

Microsoft has also discussed allowing enterprise users to display a custom message before interacting with their chatbots, such as the new Bing will display a welcome screen indicating that it Can answer complex questions and provide information.

In addition, Microsoft wants to give users ways to upload their own data and improve the voice of its chatbots, and it plans to let users replace the Microsoft and OpenAI branding, the person said. said

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, arch-rival Google is pushing ahead with similar projects using its own technology. On Monday, Google Parents the alphabet announced an artificial intelligence chatbot called Bard, and CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an internal email that he would soon enroll developers and enterprises to test an API that he Access to basic LaMDA technology.

Watch: Google asks employees to examine potential competitors to ChatGPT.