PanamaTimes

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Google boss Sundar Pichai admits AI dangers 'keep me up at night'

Google boss Sundar Pichai admits AI dangers 'keep me up at night'

Google has started rolling out its own chatbot called Bard. It's a large language model, trained on huge amounts of data, to help it understand text inputs and respond. Its direct competition is Microsoft's revamped Bing, which has rolled OpenAI's ChatGPT technology into its search engine.
Google's chief executive had admitted the potential dangers of AI development "keep me up at night".

Sundar Pichai said the technology "can be very harmful if deployed wrongly" and backed growing calls for regulation amid concern about its impact on jobs, privacy, and how information is shared online.

"We don't have all the answers there yet - and the technology is moving fast," he told CBS's 60 Minutes programme.

"So does that keep me up at night? Absolutely."

Google fast-tracked its plans for ChatGPT-style features in its products and services after being caught out by the sudden success of OpenAI's model, which now has more than 100 million monthly users.

The technology has since been implemented into Microsoft's Bing search engine, threatening Google's long-held dominance in the field like never before.

Google launched its direct competitor, Bard, earlier this year - a major step for a company that had been cautious about allowing the public to interact with its AI.

Bard is powered by LaMDA, which can generate prose so human-like that a company engineer last year called it sentient - a claim the company and scientists widely dismissed.

Google does not 'fully understand' AI's answers

Like ChatGPT, Bard is a large language model trained on huge amounts of data to interpret text and respond to questions and prompts. However, both have also been shown capable of making factual errors.

Mr Pichai admitted Google still does not "fully understand" why Bard produces certain responses.

"There is an aspect of this which we call, all of us in the field call it... a 'black box'," he said.

"You don't fully understand. And you can't quite tell why it said this, or why it got this wrong."

But Mr Pichai said despite his concerns, AI development would only continue to accelerate - and eventually impact "every product across every company", from healthcare to creative industries.

Google itself has already added Bard features to apps like Docs, and The New York Times reports the company will launch an entirely new search engine powered by the technology.

Mr Pichai said it would be down to governments to figure out how best to regulate it.

How governments are approaching AI

The UK government has said it will take a light approach to regulating AI, saying any attempt to legislate now will quickly be out of date.

But in the US, the White House is inviting public feedback on how AI should be regulated to protect jobs and privacy, while China has already published draft rules outlining its own approach.

Last month, Italy became the first country to outright ban ChatGPT while the country's data protection authorities investigated its collection of user information.

It came after Elon Musk joined hundreds of AI experts in calling for a pause in the development of the technology, warning that it posed "profound risks to society".

But Musk has since revealed plans to build his own ChatGPT rival.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
Trump Threatens 50% Tariff on EU Goods, Markets React
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
×