Google's Bard AI Launches Globally Without a Waitlist in 180 Countries

For the past two months, anyone interested in trying Google's new AI chatbot, Bard, had to register and join a waitlist. However, this waitlist has been eliminated as Bard expands its availability to 180 additional countries and territories. This latest version of Bard is powered by Google's advanced Large Language Model, PaLM 2, significantly enhancing its capabilities.

Google rapidly launched the first generation of Bard in February to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT, which had quickly captured market attention. Unfortunately, Bard's initial performance fell short of expectations, damaging Google's reputation in the AI sector. In the months since, the company has made substantial improvements to the PaLM model, allowing Bard to deliver higher-quality responses and tackle new tasks, including programming code generation.

During the recent I/O 2023 keynote, Google executives announced that Bard has now transitioned to the PaLM 2 platform. Users can anticipate an array of new features in the coming days and weeks. For instance, when users inquire about "must-see sights" in New Orleans, they will receive visual responses, complete with images rather than just text. Additionally, users can easily submit images alongside text queries, integrating Google Lens capabilities into Bard.

Google is not only enhancing Bard but also collaborating with other industry leaders. Recent partnerships include a collaboration with Adobe to incorporate its Firefly generative AI, aiming to strengthen Bard’s offerings against Microsoft’s BingChat-DALL·E 2.

Moreover, Google is implementing several updates based on user feedback since Bard’s launch. Users will soon have the ability to click on specific code or answers generated by Bard to access the source links. The introduction of a Dark theme is also in the works, along with an export feature that will allow users to run generated programming code on platforms like Replit or easily integrate their work into Google Docs or Gmail.