Flurry of breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and quantum computing provide relief after rollercoaster year

Over the past month, we've seen a rapid cadence of notable AI-related announcements and releases from both Google and OpenAI, and it's been making the AI community's head spin. It has also poured fuel on the fire of the OpenAI-Google rivalry, an accelerating game of one-upmanship taking place unusually close to the Christmas holiday.

Google may be preparing to add more AI features to its search engine as its competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot ramps up. The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

Google is planning to add a new “AI Mode” to its search engine, according to a report from The Information. The company will reportedly display an option to switch to AI Mode from the top of the results page, allowing you to access an interface similar to its Gemini AI chatbot.

"AI Mode," shown at the top left of the web results page and inside the Google app, will provide an interface similar to a Gemini AI chat, according to The Information.

Whisk is a “creative tool” for quick inspiration, Google said in a blog post, as opposed to a “traditional image editor.” In essence, Whisk is intended as a fun AI feature, rather than as something that’s supposed to be refined professional work.

The rapid commoditization of AI models continues, even with a groundbreaking new approach known as inference-time compute.

The company sparked an AI arms race with ChatGPT's launch in November 2022, and its growing success, along with new product releases, helped it secure $6.6 billion in funding last October. Meanwhile, Google is pursuing a similar line of research.

Early testers are playing with Google's new Veo 2 and finding it bests OpenAI's Sora when it comes to accuracy.

Google Search might get a Gemini-based AI Mode soon that lets you perform online searches similar to ChatGPT Search.

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