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What Happened: Google seems to be getting ready for a premium iteration of its Bard service, as spotted by a cybersecurity enthusiast, Bedros Pambouk, on X (formerly Twitter) and reported by Android Police.
The Bard website's concealed code unveils plans for an enhanced chatbot known as Bard Advanced. The hidden code suggests that users might be offered a three-month free trial of Bard Advanced to Google One subscribers, after which a subscription fee would be required.
On further digging, Benzinga has found a reference to the same offer taking to a Google One landing page. The link is dead for now, suggesting that Google is yet to roll out the offer.
Code spotted on the Google Bard website
However, whether Bard Advanced would be included in all Google One tiers or only the pricier ones with extra Google Drive storage is still uncertain. Alternatively, it might represent a completely new tier within Google One.
In December 2023, Google released its most competent AI model, Gemini, available in three versions, including a Nano version for mobile devices and a Pro version that powers Bard in the U.S.
A more advanced version, Gemini Ultra, has yet to be publicly launched but is presumed to power Bard Advanced.
Based on Google's December announcement, Bard Advanced could debut early this year.
With promotional content and initial pricing details already visible in the code, the launch appears to be just around the corner.
Why It Matters: As reported in a Benzinga article from December 2023, Google's Bard Advanced is a key part of the company's response to OpenAI's GPT-4 Turbo in what has become an increasingly competitive AI race.
Google's move towards a paid version of Bard signifies the growing commercial value of AI models and the company's efforts to monetize its advancements in the field.
