Google Employees Mock Company’s ChatGPT Competitor Bard

Career regrets are common, reader. I’m Diamond Naga Siu, and I used to regret my first job out of college. While working there, I thought I’d never become a reporter. And for more than half a year after leaving, I had recurring nightmares about working there.

Not regretting my decisions was definitely a process — it’s apparently a common experience for people. So my colleagues Rebecca Knight and Britney Nguyen broke down how to experience, get over, and ultimately have fewer career regrets.

Two pieces of advice from experts in their story really resonated with me: forgiving yourself and recognizing there are plenty of do-overs. Since it’s a tough time in the tech industry right now, I hope this resonates with some of you, too.

But before this gets too sappy, let’s jump into today’s tech.

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Googlers are begrudgingly testing their company’s ChatGPT competitor. CEO Sundar Pichai asked every employee to spend multiple hours testing Google’s new chatbot Bard. It was the search engine’s response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. But Googlers aren’t exactly having fun testing it.

• Employees are grumbling about the additional responsibility, especially so soon after 12,000 Googlers were laid off. They were tasked with improving Bard by asking it questions and flagging bad answers, in addition to their normal responsibilities.
• Unenthused employees used internal forums to gripe about the new task. Some made memes from the conversations they’ve had with Bard, continuing a trend of internally mocking the chatbot.
• One employee asked Bard to tell a joke about Google’s layoffs, according to leaked messages viewed by Insider. It responded with: “I’d tell you a joke about layoffs at Google, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t have a job tomorrow.”

Check out more of the mocking memes here.

In other news:

2. Tiny homes are taking over California. More than 60,000 tiny homes have been built in California backyards between 2018 to 2021. This could be a game changer in the state with the country’s worst housing shortage. Dive into the tiny-home mini-boom here.

3. One of Elon Musk’s most loyal employees was reportedly fired. Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, previously went viral after a photo was posted of her sleeping on the floor of Twitter HQ. But now, multiple outlets are reporting she’s been laid off, along with at least 50 team members. Read more. 

4. Meta’s LLaMA enters the generative AI DRaMA. Facebook’s parent company just dropped its own ChatGPT competitor. It’s designed for researchers to help make chatbots less toxic. Here’s what we know about it so far.

5. Inside the “paparazzi-proof” penthouse that Bill Gates’ daughter just bought. Jennifer Gates reportedly shelled out $51 million for her New York City pad. Check out the three-level Tribeca home here.

6. Netflix upped US prices, but cut them in 36 other countries. The embattled streaming company is focusing on customers outside the US. It recently also cracked down on password sharing. Check out the countries with lowered subscription prices here.

7. Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and 12 other leaders dish on AI. ChatGPT, the buzzy generative AI chatbot, made a big splash. It’s even caught the attention of tech leaders like Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Here’s what 14 tech bigwigs think about AI tools like ChatGPT.

8. Leasing an electric vehicle could be the best way to go. EVs are still relatively new. So a used EV’s future value is still relatively unknown — for both buyers and carmakers. This is why leasing an EV might make the most sense for you.

Odds and ends:

9. Get a full tour of living arrangements at sea. An old Holland America cruise ship was turned into a residential vessel. A sales manager told Insider the ship is reimagined as a “retirement home on the water.” Float over for an inside look at the transformed boat.

10. Russia reportedly shot down several of its own planes. This pattern spooked many of its pilots, according to an FT report. Now, the country is running out of experienced pilots willing to fly. More on the deadly situation here.

What we’re watching today:

Curated by Diamond Naga Siu in San Diego. (Feedback or tips? Email dsiu@insider.com or tweet @diamondnagasiu) Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.