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Alphabet shares dive after Google AI chatbot Bard flubs answer in ad

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LONDON: Alphabet lost $100 billion in market value on Wednesday after the Google AI chatbot, considered to be a ChatGPT alternative, shared inaccurate information in a promotional video and a company event failed to dazzle, feeding worries that the Google parent is losing ground to rival Microsoft.

Alphabet shares slid as much as 9% during regular trading with volumes nearly three times the 50-day moving average. They pared losses after hours and were roughly flat. The stock had lost 40% of its value last year but rallied 15% since the beginning of this year, excluding Wednesday’s losses.

Reuters was the first to point out an error in Google’s advertisement for chatbot Bard, which debuted on Monday, about which satellite first took pictures of a planet outside the Earth’s solar system.

Google has been on its heels after OpenAI, a startup Microsoft is backing with around $10 billion, introduced software in November that has wowed consumers and become a fixation in Silicon Valley circles for its surprisingly accurate and well-written answers to simple prompts.

Google’s live-streamed presentation on Wednesday morning did not include details about how and when it would integrate Bard into its core search function. A day earlier, Microsoft held an event touting that it had already released to the public a version of its Bing search with ChatGPT functions integrated.

Bard’s error was discovered just before the presentation by Google, based in Mountain View, California.

“While Google has been a leader in AI innovation over the last several years, they seemed to have fallen asleep on implementing this technology into their search product,” said Gil Luria, senior software analyst at DA Davidson. “Google has been scrambling over the last few weeks to catch up on Search and that caused the announcement yesterday (Tuesday) to be rushed and the embarrassing mess up of posting a wrong answer during their demo.”

Microsoft shares rose around 3% on Wednesday, and were flat in post-market trading.

Alphabet posted a short GIF video of Bard in action via Twitter, promising it would help simplify complex topics, but it instead delivered an inaccurate answer.

In the advertisement, Bard is given the prompt: “What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can I tell my nine-year old about?” Bard responds with a number of answers, including one suggesting the JWST was used to take the very first pictures of a planet outside the Earth’s solar system, or exoplanets. The first pictures of exoplanets were, however, taken by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2004, as confirmed by NASA.

“This highlights the importance of a rigorous testing process, something that we’re kicking off this week with our Trusted Tester program,” a Google spokesperson said. “We’ll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information.”

Formidable competitor

Alphabet is coming off a disappointing fourth quarter as advertisers cut spending.

The search and advertising giant is moving quickly to keep pace with OpenAI and rivals, reportedly bringing in founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to accelerate its efforts.

“People are starting to question is Microsoft going to be a formidable competitor now against Google’s really bread-and-butter business,” said King Lip, chief strategist at Baker Avenue Wealth Management, which owns Alphabet and Microsoft shares.

Lip cautioned, though, that concerns about Alphabet may be overblown, saying: “I think still Bing is a far, far cry away from Google’s search capabilities.”

The new ChatGPT software has injected excitement into technology firms after tens of thousands of job cuts in recent weeks and executive pledges to pare back on so-called moonshot projects. AI has become a fixation for tech executives who have mentioned it as much as six times more often on recent earnings calls than in prior quarters, Reuters found.

The appeal of AI-driven search is that it could spit out results in plain language, rather than in a list of links, which could make browsing faster and more efficient. It remains unclear what impact that might have on targeted advertising, the backbone of search engines like Google.

Chatbot AI systems also carry risks for corporations because of inherent biases in their algorithms that can skew results, sexualize images or even plagiarize, as consumers testing the service have discovered. Microsoft, for instance, released a chatbot on Twitter in 2016 that quickly began generating racist content before being shut down. And an AI used by news site CNET was found to produce factually incorrect or plagiarised stories.

At the time of writing, the Bard ad had been viewed on Twitter more than a million times.

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With the PSX at 115,000, investors profit while the sun is shining.

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Despite the numerous actions the government has taken in recent months, the nation’s economy is still growing.

The extraordinary rise in equities in recent years is evidence that the economic “turnaround” has given investors cause for optimism.

As market participants eagerly made investments, the KSE-100 index crossed the 115,000 level on Friday, the penultimate working day of the current week on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). The stocks gained strength on the 13th consecutive day, highlighting improvement in the country’s economy.

During early hours of trading, stocks climbed to 115,172 with a gain of 600 points.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) reached its peak by surging above 114,000 points on Thursday. It has been over a month since the surge began.

The figure jumped by a substantial 2,500 points to 113,374 points during Thursday’s session. The KSE-100 index closed at 114,180, up 3,370 points, after surpassing 114,000 points later in the day.

On Wednesday, stocks closed at 111,810.

FLOW AND EBB

The market had a sharp bearish rise a few days ago, but it was short-lived as bullish momentum returned. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained more than 2,000 points and is currently sitting around 111,000. It was in opposition to the close of 108,896 points the day before.

CUT THE rating ON THE CARDS

The proverbial bulls have been galloping for the past month or so thanks to the financial infusion from the International Monetary Fund’s loan disbursement and more discussions on climate funding.

The impending policy rate cut meeting of the SBP is another factor contributing to the current market attitude. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank is scheduled to convene on Monday, December 16.

On November 30, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) achieved a historic milestone by reaching a record-breaking high of 100,000 points following an unheard-of run of gains.

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ADB Adjusts Pakistan’s Economic Growth Forecast to 3% for 2024-25, Indicating Positive Economic Trajectory

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Pakistan’s economic growth is projected to be three percent in the fiscal year 2025, according to the Asian Development Bank’s revised prediction, which is an upward revision from the previous forecast.

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The PSX 100 index crosses 113,000 points, marking a historic milestone.

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The historic 113,213-point milestone has been surpassed for the first time by the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), setting a new record.

The stock market experienced a spectacular start to the trading session, rising 1,400 points in just 30 minutes. At an all-time high of 112,277 points, the KSE-100 Index jumped 1,467 points.

With the index rising 1,200 points in just 15 minutes after the market began, the PSX had already reached another milestone. At 112,041 points, the KSE-100 Index had risen 1,231 points.

In another example of record-breaking performance, the PSX saw a 1,000-point spike in just 10 minutes. The KSE-100 Index rose 1,100 points to 111,911 points, regaining the 111,000-point milestone and hitting its highest level ever.

The PSX’s exceptional performance establishes it as a crucial gauge of economic optimism by highlighting robust investor confidence and substantial market momentum.

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