How
will the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) reshape the tech industry?
Until recently you might have used Google to search for an answer to that
question. But now you have another option: to ask an AI-powered chatbot,
which lets you gather information from the internet through typed
conversations. ChatGPT, the leading example, can write essays, explain
complex concepts, answer trivia questions and suggest menus or holiday
destinations. By the end of January, two months after its launch, it was
being used by more than 100m people, making it the fastest-growing
consumer application in history. Our cover this week in most of the world
examines the potential impact of chatbots on the lucrative business of
internet search, and whether they might pose a threat to
Google’s dominance. Microsoft, which has just integrated ChatGPT into its
search engine, Bing, certainly hopes so. Could this be a Schumpeterian
moment in which incumbents are toppled and rivals seize the initiative?
The answer depends on moral choices, monetisation and monopoly economics.
But a hugely valuable prize—to become the new front door to the
internet—may be up for grabs.
In Asia, our cover considers the parable of Adani, a sprawling Indian business empire that has been
humbled in the markets after a short-seller asked questions
about its finances (the company denied the claims). Adani runs some of
India’s biggest ports, stores a third of its grain, operates a fifth of
its power-transmission lines and makes a fifth of its cement. Its woes
do not just call into question the pharaonic ambitions of its boss,
Gautam Adani. They are also a political embarrassment for Narendra Modi,
the prime minister, who is a close associate of Mr Adani. For Mr Modi,
big companies are important planks in his plan to boost capital
investment in India’s infrastructure, as he strives to make the country a
global manufacturing powerhouse. That has led to a culture of
favouritism, subsidies and insufficient scrutiny of big business. The
Adani affair thus poses the sternest test in years to Indian capitalism.
India has many of the conditions in place for a sustained growth spurt.
But if it is to achieve its potential, close and impartial oversight of
corporate titans will be vital.
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