Google’s experimental ChatGPT rivals include a search bot and a tool called ‘Apprentice Bard’

Google employees have been testing several potential ChatGPT competitors as part of the tech giant’s bid to launch a response to OpenAI’s technology, according to CNBC. A previous New York Times report said that Google CEO Sundar Pichai declared “code red” and accelerated AI development to be able to unveil at least 20 AI-powered products this year. Now, CNBC has detailed several of the products the company is working on, including a chatbot called “Apprentice Bard” that uses Google’s LaMDA conversation technology.

Apparently, Google management asked the LaMDA team to prioritize working on a ChatGPT competitor, telling them that it takes precedence over any other project and even warning them not to attend unrelated meetings. Apprentice Bard reportedly looks and functions like ChatGPT in that a user can type a question or a prompt in a text box and then get a written response. 

CNBC says it saw samples proving the bot’s answers include information from recent events — something ChatGPT isn’t capable of, because it only has limited knowledge about anything that happened after 2021. In one example, Apprentice Bard was able to answer whether there will be another round of layoffs at Google. (Unlikely for this year, it said, seeing as the company is doing well financially.) If you’ll recall, Google’s LaMDA tech had gotten a former company engineer fired after he claimed that it had gained sentience.

Google is also reportedly testing a new search page that uses a question and answer format. The experimental home page features five potential question prompts replacing “I’m feeling lucky” under the search bar. After a user types in their query, the page generates human-like responses in gray bubbles. Underneath those responses are suggested follow-up questions, followed by the typical search results with links and headlines. In addition, Alphabet is working on a project called “Atlas” under its cloud unit. While CNBC didn’t have details on what it is, it’s still reportedly part of Google’s “code red” efforts.

It’s unclear at this point which of Google’s projects are going to be released to the public. Google AI chief Jeff Dean told employees during an all-hands meeting to discuss the company’s response to ChatGPT that it’s moving “more conservatively than a small startup.” Providing people wrong information will have a much bigger impact for a known company like Google, after all. Indeed, The Times previously said that the tech giant is prioritizing safety, accuracy and blocking out misinformation when it comes to the development of its search chatbot. If reports that Microsoft is incorporating ChatGPT’s technology into Bing as soon as this March are true, however, we’ll also likely see Google’s search chatbot in the near future. 

‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’ is delayed to April 28th

Star Wars fans will need to wait an extra month and a half to play the next chapter of Cal Kestis’ story. On Tuesday afternoon, Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment announced the delay of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to April 28th. The game was previously slated to arrive on March 17th. 

“In order for the team to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve, we have added six crucial weeks to our release schedule — Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will now launch globally on April 28th,” Respawn posted on Twitter. The studio said it would use the extra time to fix bugs and polish the game to improve performance, stability and the player experience. The delay means Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will arrive on the same day as Dead Island 2, provided that title doesn’t suffer a last-minute delay.   

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor picks up five years after the events of Fallen Order, and features an older, harder Cal Kestis. Respawn has promised the game will feature new worlds in the Star Wars galaxy for players to explore. Cal, now a Jedi Knight, also has new skills and weapons in his arsenal to take on the Galactic Empire.   

PayPal is laying off 2,000 employees

PayPal is about to become the latest tech company to lay off a substantial part of its workforce. The payments firm announced Tuesday plans to cut approximately 2,000 employees, a number that equates to about seven percent of its total staff. According to PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman, the layoffs will occur over the next few weeks, with some parts of the company affected more than others.

“We will treat our departing colleagues with the utmost respect and empathy, provide them with generous packages, engage in consultation where required and support them with their transitions,” Schulman said. “I want to express my personal appreciation for the meaningful contributions they have made to PayPal.”

The company joins a growing list of tech companies that have announced layoffs in recent months. Earlier this month, Google disclosed plans to lay off 12,000 employees, or about around six percent of its global workforce. Before that, Microsoft said it would cut 10,000 jobs. Schulman, like his counterparts at Microsoft, Google and other tech firms, blamed PayPal’s layoffs on the “challenging macro-economic environment” the company finds itself in recently. “While we have made substantial progress in right-sizing our cost structure, and focused our resources on our core strategic priorities, we have more work to do,” he said.

It’s worth noting the US economy has not entered into a recession yet. At 3.5 percent, the national unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, and the gross domestic product grew over the last quarters. Turning specifically to PayPal, the company beat Wall Street expectations during its most recent earnings call, with revenue and income increasing by 11 percent and 7 percent year on year, respectively.

Twitter is killing off co-authored tweets after less than a year

Twitter has quietly killed off a feature that allowed users to publish co-authored tweets. The company enabled CoTweets on “select” accounts last July in the US, Canada and Korea, but the feature never made it beyond the experimental stage. As of today, you’ll no longer be able to post CoTweets.

“We’re sad to say that the current experiment is coming to an end,” Twitter wrote on an updated support page. “Already existing CoTweets will be viewable for one more month at which point they will revert to retweets.” 

If you invited someone to CoTweet with you, that tweet will remain on your account, according to Mashable. For those who were invited to co-author a tweet, CoTweets will soon appear as retweets from the other person’s account. All clear on that? Swell.

This may not completely be the end of CoTweets. “We’re still looking for ways to implement this feature moving forward,” Twitter said. So, it could return at some point.

It’s unlikely to be high on Twitter’s list of priorities, however, particularly given that some 80 percent of employees have left the company since Elon Musk took over in late October. A recent report suggested Twitter now has fewer than 550 full-time engineers, who may have their hands full with other things.

343 is reportedly ‘starting from scratch’ on Halo development after layoffs

343 Industries and Halo may be here to stay despite Microsoft’s mass layoffs, but that doesn’t mean it’s business as usual for the franchise. Bloombergsources claim 343 is effectively restarting Halo development between multiple changes that include the loss of “at least” 95 jobs, including directors and key contractors. Notably, the studio is reportedly switching to Epic’s Unreal Engine after both a leadership shuffle and struggling with its aging in-house platform (Slipspace) — it’s even breaking from its familiar story-driven gameplay, according to the tipsters.

The 343 team is understood to be using Unreal for an unannounced game, nicknamed “Tatanka,” developed with the help of long-time ally Certain Affinity. It was originally built as a battle royale title but might “evolve” into other forms, the sources say. While some at 343 are supposedly worried Unreal might affect how Halo feels to play, Slipspace’s glitches and hard-to-use tech have apparently held back multiplayer features in Halo Infinite that include past favorites like Assault and Extraction.

Many of the laid off workers were crafting game prototypes in Unreal rather than producing new missions for Halo Infinite, Bloomberg says. 343 had considered switching engines for the past decade, the insiders claim, but it wasn’t until studio lead Bonnie Ross and engine overseer David Berger left in late 2022 that the company committed to the change. Pierre Hintze, who replaced Ross, is said to have focused the company on “greenlighting” new tech while expanding Infinite.

Microsoft has declined to comment. A revamped strategy wouldn’t be surprising even without layoffs. While Infinite was well-received on launch, delayed modes, seasons and even a cancelled split-screen mode haven’t helped its reputation. 343 has also played a role in some of the Halo series’ less-than-stellar projects, including the problematic Halo: Master Chief Collection and offshoots like Halo Wars 2. A fresh start isn’t guaranteed to reinvigorate the sci-fi shooter, but it may address lingering concerns.

Peacock stops offering its free tier to new subscribers

Peacock has stopped offerings its free tier to new customers. As first reported by The Streamable, potential subscribers who visit Peacock’s website will now only see two ways to access the platform: Peacock Premium and Premium Plus. Either way, if you’re new to Peacock, you’ll need to pay to access the service’s library of content. The free tier still exists but is only available to current users who cancel their Premium subscription or those who had access to one of the paid tiers for free — for example, Cox internet customers. 

A Peacock spokesperson told Engadget the move is reflective of a strategy shift within NBCUniversal. The company believes Peacock’s paid tiers are the best way to experience what the service has to offer. By the end of the year, Peacock Premium will offer more than 100,000 hours of content for subscribers to watch, including live sports content from the Premier League and Women’s World Cup, as well as next-day streaming of Bravo shows and originals like Bel-Air. The platform’s subscriber total grew to 20 million in 2022, up from 9 million the year before. However, Peacock has yet to generate a profit for NBCUniversal owner Comcast. The company expects the service to start inching toward profitability in 2024. Presumably, it hopes to accelerate that timeline by doubling down on Peacock’s Premium tiers. 

To make up for the removal, Peacock is offering a promotion to new subscribers. You can get an annual subscription to the ad-supported Premium tier for $30, down from $50 normally. 

Update 5:45PM ET: Added context from NBCUniversal. 

EU wind and solar energy production overtook gas last year

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‘Westworld’ will soon stream for free on Roku and Tubi after leaving HBO Max

Westworld fans who’ve been mourning the show’s disappearance from HBO Max will soon have another way to watch it. Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing free, ad-supported streaming (aka FAST) channels to Roku and Tubi in the coming months. One of those channels, called WB TV Series, will feature premium shows such as Westworld, Raised by Wolves, The Nevers and The Time Traveler’s Wife. WBD yanked all of those shows from HBO Max in December.

WB TV Series, and two other channels focused on reality and family-friendly shows, will debut on Tubi as soon as February 1st, according to Variety. Eleven more FAST channels from WBD are coming to the platform soon, including ones centered around baking competition series, classic movies from the late 20th century and true crime shows. The channels will arrive on the Roku Channel this spring. All told, WBD is bringing more than 2,000 hours of shows and movies to both platforms.

Meanwhile, WBD is preparing to merge HBO Max and Discovery+, a move that’s slated to start in the US this spring. The company hasn’t announced the name for the combined service just yet, but at one point the frontrunner was reportedly just “Max.”