Alphabet-owned Google launched a new conversational artificial intelligence service called “Bard” on Monday, that will compete with rival ChatGPT, an AI service created by OpenAI.
The service aims to create innovative ways to engage with information, from language and images to videos and audio.
It will use the information from the web to offer new, high-quality responses, Google said.
The California-based company said it would allow “trusted testers” access to the new service in the beginning. It plans to make it widely available to the public in coming weeks.
Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models
Sundar Pichai,
chief executive of Alphabet
Bard is powered by Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) technology that was unveiled by the company nearly two years ago.
AI-led LaMDA comes with next-generation language and conversation ability, the company said.
Generative AI includes algorithms (such as latest chatbot ChatGPT) that are capable of creating new content, including text, videos, audios, software codes and images.
Recent new breakthroughs in the field could drastically change the way we approach content creation, according to a latest report from McKinsey & Company.
“Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said.
“Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope to a nine-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills."
Google has released Bard with its lightweight model version of LaMDA that requires less computing power.
It will eventually help the company to reach more users and gather more feedback.
The company said it would combine the external feedback with its internal testing to ensure Bard’s responses met a “high bar for quality, safety, and groundedness in real-world information”.
“We’re excited for this phase of testing to help us continue to learn and improve Bard’s quality and speed,” Mr Pichai said.
The competition in the field of generative AI is heavy.
San Francisco-based OpenAI’s AI-based chatbot called ChatGPT has been creating a stir across the internet with its writing ability and responses to requests.
ChatGPT is a programme that comes up with human-like responses to prompts in seconds, based on information publicly available on the internet.
The programme has become hugely popular since its launch in December, while also raising concerns about what it is used for and its accuracy.
Alphabet is already using AI to improve the results of Google Search for billions of people.
“Soon, you will see AI-powered features in Search that distill complex information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats," Mr Pichai said.
"So you can quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web … whether that’s seeking out additional perspectives, like blogs from people … or going deeper on a related topic, like steps to get started as a beginner."
Google said it is also important to make AI “easy, safe and scalable” for others.
From March, the technology company will start bringing in individual developers, creators and enterprises so they can test its generative language application programming interface, or API, initially powered by LaMDA with a range of models to follow.
API is a software intermediary that allows two different applications to connect or communicate with each other.
“Over time, we intend to create a suite of tools and APIs that will make it easy for others to build more innovative applications with AI,” Mr Pichai said.
"Having the necessary compute power to build reliable and trustworthy AI systems is also crucial to start-ups."
Last week, Alphabet reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 as its digital advertising business struggled under an economic slowdown that has choked corporate spending and caused mass layoffs.
The company’s revenue surged 1 per cent to over $76 billion while its net income dropped 34 per cent annually to $13.6 billion in three months to December 31.
Last month, the US Department of Justice and eight states filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google, alleging it monopolised the country's $279 billion digital advertising market to stifle competition and boost its profit.
The company has also announced it will lay off 12,000 of its nearly 190,000 employees, about 6 per cent of the total workforce, after a review across its product areas and functions.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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