Google Shelved ChatGPT Rival LMChat Over Search Concerns

Google's DeepMind built a chatbot called LMChat a year before ChatGPT launched, but it never saw the light of day. Thibault Sottiaux, an OpenAI Codex engineer, recently shared on social media that the product was shelved over fears it would compete with Google Search.

DeepMind had solid experience in AI infrastructure and machine learning, so LMChat could have been a strong rival to ChatGPT. However, Google's policy prevented DeepMind from releasing products that might disrupt its core business, and internal reviews found it wasn't better than Search. The project was dropped.

This shows how big tech firms tread carefully between innovation and protecting their main products. Google's Jeff Dean also mentioned they had built chatbots but didn't think they were good enough. This may have cost Google an early lead in AI chat.