Google rushes to develop AI search engine after Samsung considers ditching it for Bing

The AI race is in full swing, with major tech companies looking to compete for the top spot. Companies like Google have a lot at stake in this race with million-dollar contracts on the line — as seen by a recent Samsung move. 

If you have ever owned a Samsung smartphone, you know that Google is the default search engine on Samsung devices. But that could be about to change. Samsung is considering replacing Google with Microsoft Bing as the default search engine on its mobile devices, according to a New York Times report.

Also: How to use the new Bing (and how it's different from ChatGPT)

Microsoft Bing, which has typically been the search engine underdog, has surged in popularity with the new Bing's implementation of AI. 

The threat of Bing taking Google's spot on Samsung phones caused “panic” at Google, according to messages reviewed by The New York Times. Google's contract with Samsung brings in an approximate $3 billion annual revenue. The company still has a chance to maintain its presence in Samsung phones, but it needs to move fast. 

To keep up with AI rivals such as Bing, The New York Times says that Google is now racing to build a new search engine powered by AI and incorporating AI features into its current search engine. 

Also: What is Auto-GPT? Everything to know about the next powerful AI tool

The new Search features are being developed under the project name Magi and are meant to optimize and personalize the user experience. Google currently has over 160 people working on these features full time, according to The New York Times sources.

The features are planned to be available exclusively in the U.S. and will initially roll out to one million users, which will eventually increase to 30 million by the end of the year, according to the report. 

The new AI-powered search engine, a longer-term project, would use a person's browsing habits to give personalized recommendations, including purchases and basic information in a conversational manner.

Also: I used ChatGPT to write the same routine in 12 top programming languages. Here's how it did

In Google's rush to keep up, it risks the chance of making the same mistakes it made with its own AI chatbot, Google Bard. 

Google released Bard last month. The chatbot however had a rocky start and an underwhelming release, causing Google CEO Sundar Pichai to even call it ‘a souped-up Civic' compared to ChatGPT and Bing Chat.