Google to Launch AI-Powered Search in India and Japan

Since mid-May, Google has been combining its emphasis on generative AI with its established search expertise through the Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) project. The company recently revealed that the SGE program will now extend its reach beyond the United States and into the Japanese and Indian markets.

SGE is Google’s answer to Microsoft’s Bing AI, designed to provide condensed and curated responses to input prompts rather than a list of webpages. Google’s system differs from Microsoft’s in that it embeds its AI directly into the existing search bar, rather than using it as a separate chatbot assistant. The company began expanding access to the SGE program for US users in late May, and this week rolled out Search Labs for users in India and Japan.

The AI-enhanced search feature is available in Japanese in Japan and in both English and Hindi in India, reads Wednesday’s Google Search blog. “We’re also introducing voice input, so users can just speak instead of typing their survey and listen to the answers,” the blog continues. “Search ads will continue to appear in dedicated ad slots across the page.”

Google also claimed that “people are having a positive experience” with SGE “to help with more complex queries and completely new types of questions.” In fact, the company notes that SGE’s highest satisfaction scores came from 18- to 24-year-olds, though it didn’t provide data to back up those claims.

After the popularity of generative AI systems skyrocketed with the launch of ChatGPT last November, the technology’s glory is already starting to fade as the seemingly inevitable abuse of its features increases. The technique is already being used in online scams and has attracted the attention of both federal regulators and Congress in an effort to crack down on such scams.