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Google eschews ‘move fast and break things’ for ‘slow and steady’
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May 12, 2023

Emerging Tech Brew

The weekend is imminent. Today we’ve got nuggets from Google’s I/O conference, a writeup on Zendesk’s new LLM aimed at improving the customer experience, and notes on Rocket Lab’s Q1 earnings (and what they say about the business of shooting things into space).

In today’s edition:

Maeve Allsup, Jordan McDonald, Annie Saunders

AI

Google talks shop

Google logo with binary code and ai elements
Francis Scialabba

It’s an interesting time in the world of online search: Microsoft is betting its LLM-powered, intriguing-yet-sometimes-disturbing Bing chatbot will help it level the playing field on which Google currently enjoys around 85% of market share, according to Statista. Meanwhile, Google maintains that its own chatbot, Bard, isn’t a replacement for a search engine.

Against that backdrop, the eyes of the tech world turned to Mountain View on Wednesday for Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference, hoping to glean intel on its plans for keeping up with the rapid pace of the AI search wars.

The pitch for yet another new era in search, in the form of an AI-powered tool called Search Generative Experience, followed a somewhat different strategy from the one reportedly used to launch Bard: Move fast but not too fast, temper consumer expectations, and emphasize a “responsible” approach.

Keep reading here.—MA

     

FROM THE CREW

5 tips for finding digital transformation success

The Crew

In today’s world, proper use of technology is more important than ever to stay competitive, which could mean it’s time for an extensive digital transformation. When it comes to execution, the IT team is sure to shoulder the brunt of the work. To ensure your team’s success, it’s essential to put a strategy in place to help wrangle all the to-dos against a realistic timeline. Wondering where to start? IT Brew has you covered. Download their guide today.

AI

An LLM just for CX

Zendesk logo on colorful background Alyssa Nassner

Customer experience software company Zendesk is all-in on generative AI: In 2021, it acquired Cleverly, a Lisbon-based CX automation startup. In April 2023, it announced a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. And on Wednesday, it unveiled Zendesk AI, an “intelligence layer” using the company’s in-house large language model (LLM), which it claims is trained on the “world’s largest CX-specific dataset.”

Zendesk AI, unveiled at the Zendesk Relate conference in San Francisco, adds capabilities including advanced chatbots, AI-generated content, and tools designed to detect intent and analyze sentiment in conversations. Separately, Zendesk announced a handful of additional tools developed through its partnership with OpenAI, including response rephrasing and tone shifting.

Despite the hefty investment in AI automation, Zendesk isn’t planning on automating service representatives out of a job, Jon Aniano, SVP of product for CRM applications, said.

Instead, he’s confident these new AI tools will make CX teams more valuable to their companies—not replaceable.

Keep reading here.—MA

     

SPACE

Up and away

Up and away Hannah Minn

Despite recent high-profile launch failures from companies including SpaceX, Relativity Space, and Virgin Orbit, the space business is booming.

Rocket Lab, a Long Beach, California-based satellite launch service specializing in delivering satellites to space through its Electron rockets, released its Q1 2023 earnings, offering a window into the satellite launch market.

Keep reading here.—JM

     

TOGETHER WITH CLOUDFIX

CLOUDFIX

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COOL CONSUMER TECH

Stock Montage/Getty Images

Usually, we write about the business of tech. Here, we highlight the *tech* of tech.

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me: It’s been posited that current iterations of AI are little more than a waste of time, and Google’s just offered up broader access to a new tool to help you fritter away your one wild and precious life. The company’s generative AI chatbot, Bard, is now widely available in English, The Verge reported.

It costs how much?! Google unveiled its Pixel Fold—which is, as you would expect, a smartphone that folds in half—at its I/O conference this week. It’s got some striking specs, as Wired detailed, but it costs nearly $2,000. But it comes with a free Pixel Watch?

BITS AND BYTES

Stat: 23%. That’s how much shares of Big Data firm Palantir shot up this week after it “reported blockbuster demand for its forthcoming artificial intelligence platform,” Morning Brew’s Sam Klebanov wrote.

Quote: “When models are right, people trust them…That’s the challenge with AI. How do you prevent that phenomenon from happening where humans build too much trust?”—Glean CEO Arvind Jain, to WorkLife in a story about AI hallucinations

Read: How Google tried to fix the web by taking it over (The Verge)

Links we love: It’s your last chance to secure your seat to our best-selling sprint, Difficult Conversations at Work. Learn how to have those tough talks and walk away with an action plan. Sign up now.

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Written by Maeve Allsup, Jordan McDonald, and Annie Saunders

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