LinkedIn (LNKD) cofounder Reid Hoffman and Mustafa Suleyman, a founding researcher of Google (GOOGL)’s DeepMind lab, today (May 2) launched a ChatGPT-like text generator called Pi through their new startup, Inflection AI.
Hoffman and Suleyman join a crowded race with tech companies large and small to develop chatbot products based on generative artificial intelligence, a term popularized by the viral success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT late last year.
At the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. today, Hoffman said generative A.I. will ultimately benefit all industries, especially those relying on knowledge and creativity. For writers, for example, tools like ChatGPT could be used to generate first drafts and act as an “amplifier” that helps achieve the same quality work in less time, Hoffman said.
What makes Pi different from other text generators?
Pi is a chatbot powered by Inflection AI’s in-house technology that prioritizes human conversations with a high level of emotional intelligence, the company said. It has a narrower use case than ChatGPT, Google’s Bard or Microsoft (MSFT)’s Bing chatbot, but it’s better than those apps at conducting conversations in a human-like way.
“It doesn’t do lists, or coding, it doesn’t do travel plans, it won’t write your marketing strategy, or your essay for school,” Suleyman, who serves as CEO of Inflection, told the Financial Times. “It’s purely designed for relaxed, supportive, informative conversation.”
“With Pi, we set out to create a personal AI that is as flexible as it is powerful, so millions of people can use it to make their lives more meaningful, more productive, and more fun,” Hoffman, a cofounder of Inflection, said in a statement today.
Pi has been beta-tested by a small group of users for a few months. Users can interact with the app on Inflection’s website or through Meta-owned platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
Hoffman’s venture capital firm Greylock incubated Inflection and led a $250 million investment in the startup. He resigned from the board of OpenAI in March to focus on his new A.I. ventures. He is still a board member of Microsoft, which owns a large stake in OpenAI.
Inflection’s team includes A.I. experts who previously worked at DeepMind, Google, OpenAI and Meta, the company said.