Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said Google aims to be an 'AI-first' company. Reuters
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said Google aims to be an 'AI-first' company. Reuters
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said Google aims to be an 'AI-first' company. Reuters
Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said Google aims to be an 'AI-first' company. Reuters

How to get access to Google’s Bard AI chatbot and what you need to know


Kelsey Warner
  • English
  • Arabic

Bard has shaken off that disastrous live demo.

A little more than a month after Google's generative artificial intelligence bot made a factual error in its debut demonstration, wiping $100 billion off parent company Alphabet's market value in a single day, Bard is now available to some users in the US and the UK.

How does the chatbot work?

Bard is Google's competitor to Microsoft's Bing Chat and OpenAI's ChatGPT.

The bot is built on the neural network LaMDA, which stands for language model for dialogue applications and is based on 1.56 trillion words from public forums and other websites.

LaMDA is an AI system Google started developing in 2015, around the time Alphabet and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai declared a strategy shift to becoming an “AI-first” company.

It can offer conversational responses to complex or open-ended questions.

For example, users can ask Bard to give them tips for how to prepare for a job interview, explain complex scientific concepts in simple terms, draft an invitation for a party or write an outline for a school paper.

“We really see it as this creative collaborator,” says Jack Krawczyk, a senior product director at Google, as reported by MIT Technology Review.

How do I gain access to Bard?

Bard is initially available to some customers in the US and the UK. Users can join the waiting list here.

Google said it would be expanding Bard “over time to more countries and languages” but did not specify a timetable, and framed the launch of Bard as “an experiment”.

How is Bard different from ChatGPT?

User beware.

Google offers many disclaimers with Bard, including that it may make mistakes or “give inaccurate or inappropriate responses”.

OpenAI had a similar warning for ChatGPT, saying it was “still is not fully reliable” and prone to stating incorrect facts, making reasoning errors and displaying bias.

Bard's system is very limited in citing its sources, so there is no way of knowing where it is getting its answers from.

ChatGPT and Bing Chat perform a bit better on this, offering limited information on how they generate answers.

Bard gives real-time answers to queries. ChatGPT and Bing rely on data that stops in 2021.

In an internal email seen by CNBC, Mr Pichai told employees that the success of Bard depended on wide-scale public testing.

“As more people start to use Bard and test its capabilities, they’ll surprise us. Things will go wrong,” Mr Pichai wrote.

“But the user feedback is critical to improving the product and the underlying technology.”

How much will it cost?

For now, Bard is free.

Google has a long track record of offering its apps at zero cost to users because the company primarily makes its money from selling advertising.

In a world with generative AI, where web users can get answers immediately from conversational bots, the future of the search engine — and advertising revenue — is up in the air.

For now, Google is positioning Bard as a “complement” to search, Platformer reported.

The service is connected to Google Search, and there is a “Google it” button underneath every response from Bard.

By contrast, ChatGPT sells subscriptions to its service at $20 a month.

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
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Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

Desert Warrior

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
  2. Cinematography, shots and movement.
  3. All aspects of post-production.
  4. Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
  5. Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
  6. Tourism industry knowledge.
  7. Professional ethics.
Company%20Profile
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
  • Riders must be 14-years-old or over
  • Wear a protective helmet
  • Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
  • Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
  • Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
  • Do not drive outside designated lanes
MATCH INFO

Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')

Sevilla 0

Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Soldier F

“I was in complete disgust at the fact that only one person was to be charged for Bloody Sunday.

“Somebody later said to me, 'you just watch - they'll drop the charge against him'. And sure enough, the charges against Soldier F would go on to be dropped.

“It's pretty hard to think that 50 years on, the State is still covering up for what happened on Bloody Sunday.”

Jimmy Duddy, nephew of John Johnson

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F1 2020 calendar

March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.

The BIO

Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.

Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.

Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.

Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.

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Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

Updated: March 22, 2023, 9:06 AM