Google introduces lower-priced AI tools to compete with OpenAI

Google said on Wednesday that some of its artificial intelligence tools that it offers to businesses will be powered by the company’s “Gemini” AI models and available at a lower-priced plan as it looks to compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

The Alphabet unit in August last year introduced “Duet AI in Workspace”, a set of AI assistants that could write in Google Docs, draft emails in Gmail and generate custom visuals in Google Slides, among other capabilities, at a monthly price of $30 per user for companies.

“Duet AI in Workspace” is being rebranded to “Gemini for Google Workspace,” and will now be available for $20 and $30 per user per month, based on available features, on top of a subscription to Google Workspace.

OpenAI sells a suite that includes AI model GPT-4 and image generation tool DALL·E to individuals for a monthly price of $20 per user, and to companies starting at a monthly price of $25 per user.

Companies are pushing to roll out services based on generative AI, widely seen as a breakthrough technology attracting billions of dollars in investments and interest from customers for its ability to automate tasks and produce human-like responses.

Microsoft through its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, gained an early lead by swiftly rolling out genAI capabilities across a wide range of its products such as enterprise productivity software and cloud.

Google said on Wednesday that individual users can now access Gemini in their personal Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Meet apps through a subscription to Google One AI Premium, a service that offers additional storage and features in Gmail, Drive and Photos.

Google Workspace users will also get a standalone chat experience “Chat with Gemini” and conversations in this tool will not be used for advertising purposes. Reuters