IThere are rivalries that never die. They go to sleep, then resurface when the opportunity arises. In the world of computing, the most famous is that between Microsoft and Apple. It has been forty years since Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the two founders, began their duel.
Today, their distant successors continue the fight. Monday, May 20, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, exulted as he presented his new line of Surface line laptops. The novelty ? Artificial intelligence (AI), of course. The ancient Windows operating system is boosted by AI. Its machines will be, says Microsoft, “58% faster than the most advanced Apple MacBook Air”. A precise figure as the Seattle firm likes them.
Artificial intelligence is the new ring in which technology giants compete. Its promises are such that they now dictate their stock market valuation and their investments. Microsoft has now overtaken Apple as the most expensive company in the world. It is worth 3,160 billion dollars (2,908 billion euros) compared to 2,900 billion for Apple.
The latter is therefore working to catch up. But, the height of irony, according to the Bloomberg agency, he is in advanced negotiations with OpenAI, Microsoft’s protégé. The firm led by Sam Altman is definitely essential. And the flood of dollars that falls on it widens the gap with its competitors every day.
From homage to plagiarism, there is only one step
The entire sector is falling under the spell of this company. Everyone except Scarlett Johansson. The Hollywood actress did not appreciate that the voice now equipped with the latest version of her GPT-4 software resembled her in a disturbing way.
It is not a coincidence. Like many technology lovers, Sam Altman worships the film Her, by Spike Jonze, released in 2013. We see the hero (Joaquin Phoenix) fall in love with the AI that he introduced into his computer. And her disturbing voice is that of Scarlett Johansson. From paying tribute to plagiarism, there is only one step, even if OpenAI claims to have used anonymous actresses to animate its machine.
The AI battle is therefore made up of dollars, rivalries and feelings. It blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Besides, Scarlett Johansson is not the original voice of Spike Jonze’s film. But the director was not satisfied with the rendering of the voice of the first actress, Samantha Morton. The whimsical Steve Jobs and the calculating Bill Gates would have appreciated this moment when certainties suddenly collapse.