Bill Gates, initially skeptical about AI, was intrigued by the potential but hesitant due to its mistakes. He challenged ChatGPT to pass the AP Bioexam as a test of its understanding. To his surprise, during a demo at his house, the latest model of ChatGPT successfully passed the Bioexam, including the essay portion. However, what truly impressed Gates was when OpenAI CEO Greg Brockman asked ChatGPT various questions and it provided empathetic responses, even more so than Gates himself. This convinced Gates and other Microsoft executives that ChatGPT was ready to be a product rather than just a research experiment.
Microsoft is a household name when it comes to Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, but it’s not the first name many people think of when it comes to cool new tech. At least until recently. The company’s big investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has now launched it to the forefront of tech innovation.
Bloomberg Businessweek writer Max Chafkin joins this episode to tell the story of how the company that once brought us Clippy the interactive paperclip became a power player in the new frontier of artificial intelligence.
Read more: Microsoft’s Sudden AI Dominance Is Scrambling Silicon Valley’s Power Structure
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