Google's 'speed to market' may be critical in AI race, BofA says
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Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced the public beta of its artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, on Monday, and while the technology may be impressive, the most important factor in the race between Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)-backed OpenAI could be how fast Bard gets into the broader public's hands, Bank of America said.
Analyst Justin Post, who has a buy rating and a per-share price target of $125 on Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), noted that the AI race is "clearly on for the tech sector," but speed is the key here.
"Speed may be important for scale as the models are learning models," Post wrote in a note to clients, adding that Googleâs language models are "highly capable" and it may have access to more data than OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The tech giant also has extensive computing infrastructure and a "large" distribution advantage for search as it is the default search option on both iOS and Android. 
"While a new wave of AI competition has arrived, we think Google is well prepared with years of investment in the technology," Post added.
Google's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Bard chatbot is based off its Language Model for Dialogue Applications, or LaMDA, technology, which it developed in 2020.
Post noted that in the long-run, Google (GOOG) could likely generate revenue from it in the form of subscriptions, data fees and advertising, but it's still early days and the focus is on getting cost down from the current estimate of two to three cents per query to make it "commercially viable."
There's also the worry about safety issues, as well as inaccuracies, bias and disinformation and the eventual government oversight and regulation of the technology, Post added.
Mountain View, California-basedGoogle (GOOG) (GOOGL) is slated to host an AI-focused event tomorrow, while Microsoft (MSFT) is holding a surprise event later today. Microsoft (MSFT) is expected to unveil more details on its OpenAI-ChatGPT deal and how it will integrate the technology into its products.
Last week, it was reported that Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) was investing $300M in AI startup company Anthropic.