Posted: May 23, 2023 4:24 PM ET
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates thinks two stalwarts of Big Tech are as susceptible to the downsides of artificial intelligence as the millions of workers who could be displaced by the technology.
In a discussion on Monday at an event hosted by Goldman Sachs and SV Angel, Gates predicted that the sprint to create a high-level AI agent for search engines and online shopping sites could quit. GOOGL GOOG Google and Amazon.com from Alphabet Inc. Inc. AMZN in the dust.
“You go…
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates thinks two stalwarts of Big Tech are as susceptible to the downsides of artificial intelligence as the millions of workers who could be displaced by the technology.
In conversation Monday at an event hosted by Goldman Sachs and SV Angel, Gates predicted the sprint to create a high-level AI agent for search engines and online shopping sites could quit. Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL
GOOG
Google and Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN
in the dust.
“You will never go to a search site again,” he said. “You will never go to Amazon.”
He added: “Whoever wins the personal agent is a big thing.”
Of course, no one knows who will establish the agent first, said Gates, who added that it could be a startup and not Microsoft.
MSFT
.
“I would be disappointed if Microsoft did not intervene. But I’m impressed with a few startups, including Inflection (LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman),” he said.
Microsoft is integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot into its product portfolio, from Bing search engine and Windows operating system to Azure cloud service and productivity applications.