Google’s Gemini Steals a March on OpenAI
When invading a hostile territory or testing a new AI service, it’s best to move quietly and steal a march on your opponents. Google appears to have learned that lesson. It’s now possible, if you’ve got its latest Pixel or Samsung phones, to ask the Gemini app to order an Uber or a meal on DoorDash. I tried it today and it worked flawlessly, if slowly. (I ordered paper towels via DoorDash, and once Gemini had arranged the transaction, it sent me to DoorDash to click the order button).
OpenAI’s ChatGPT can’t yet offer quite the same thing. Score one for Google. This feature—what it calls task automations—is an example of an AI agent actually fulfilling its promise. Notably, Google hasn’t made a big splash about this so far, other than this low-key announcement last month.
The feature has only started showing up in the Gemini app in Pixel and Samsung phones in the past week or so, following a software update. The range of tasks it can accomplish is limited: mostly ordering food, groceries or a ride somewhere. It certainly takes longer than using the external apps: When I ordered an Uber in Gemini, that took longer than doing so directly in the Uber app. As The Verge said in this Saturday piece, the feature is “slow, clunky and super impressive.”
Whether consumers want AI agents to handle transactions they can easily do in existing apps remains a big question. Still, things will evolve. And by taking it slowly and quietly, Google can iron out the wrinkles without attracting undue attention. This approach is in contrast to that of OpenAI, which likes to make lots of grand announcements about new features, some of which it later abandons (such as the Instant Checkout shopping feature). As we reported today, these strategic U-turns affected its partners on shopping.
As a much older company, Google has had its share of highly publicized embarrassments, to be sure, including Google Glasses, Google+ and Google Stadia. Perhaps it has learned to keep quiet about new ventures until they’re actually working. Whatever the case, OpenAI could learn a thing or two from watching how Google handles things.