Google is reportedly developing a new AI-powered search engine in response to renewed competition from Microsoft and OpenAI. The company is said to be in the early stages of creating a search service that will aim to provide a more personalized experience by anticipating users’ needs. The project has no clear timetable, but Google is also developing a suite of new AI features for its existing search engine, known as “Magi.”
Among the features Google is developing is a chatbot that can answer software engineering questions and generate code snippets. The company has also experimented with a feature that would allow people to search for music through a chatbot conversation. The redesign has reportedly been assigned to over 160 employees.
Other new additions in various stages of development include a Chrome feature called “Searchalong,” which would allow a chatbot to scan the webpage you’re reading to offer contextual information. Additionally, “GIFI” and “Tivoli Tutor” would allow users to prompt Google Image Search to generate images and converse with a chatbot to learn a new language.
Google reportedly plans to announce Magi next month before introducing additional new features sometime in the fall. The company plans to offer Magi’s features to one million people in the US before expanding availability to 30 million users by the end of the year.
The importance of Magi for Google is underscored by the fact that Samsung reportedly told the company last month that it was considering making Bing the default search on its devices, sending Google into a “panic.” Google’s search agreement with Samsung is worth approximately $3 billion annually, and its search agreement with Apple is up for renewal this year.
