Summary
- Google is planning to introduce a paid upgrade for its language model, called Bard Advanced. It will likely be free for the first three months before users have to pay.
- Code within the Bard website suggests that Bard Advanced will be part of Google One, but it’s unclear if it will be available in all tiers or only more expensive ones.
- Google’s release of Bard Advanced is expected to happen soon, as Google has been testing it with a small group of testers. By offering a paid tier, Google likely aims to recover some of the costs associated with running large language models.
Google Bard may be in for a paid upgrade soon. The large language model Google quickly threw on the market as a reaction to OpenAI’s state-of-the-art ChatGPT has become increasingly better. Given that Google can’t run advertisements in it like in Search, the question has always been how it would monetize the service. It seems that it could do so with its Bard Advanced version announced in December, as evidence hidden within the Bard website shows.
As spotted by @bedros_p on X (formerly Twitter) and confirmed by our own research, code within the Bard website reveals Google’s plans for the most advanced version of its chatbot yet. According to the strings, you will be able to “Try Bard Advanced for 3 months, on us.” After that test period, you will likely have to pay up for the service.
A defunct link within the code suggests that it may be part of Google One (“https://one.google.com/explore-plan/bard-advanced”), but it’s not clear if Bard Advanced will be added to all tiers or only more expensive ones with more Google Drive storage. It’s also possible that it will be an extra new tier in Google One.
this.title = “Try Bard Advanced for 3 months, on us”;
this.Bya = “Get more capable large language model with advanced math and reasoning skills with Bard Advanced for 3 months on us.”;
_.pX = new _.iG(“CJmWWb”,”https://one.google.com/explore-plan/bard-advanced”);
As a refresher, Google launched its most capable AI model yet in December 2023, called Gemini. The LLM is available in three tiers, including a Nano version capable of running on devices like phones and a Pro version currently powering Bard in the US. There is also a Gemini Ultra which isn’t public just yet, but supposedly outperforms other LLMs in almost all metrics. Google says that this is the one that will power Bard Advanced.
Per Google’s December announcement, Bard Advanced is supposed to launch early this year. Given that some promos and preliminary pricing details are already live in the code, it’s likely that we won’t have to wait too long for Google to release it. Google also said that it was already testing Bard Advance with a small group of testers, so the strings we see may be part of the testing environment that spills over to the public.
Given that OpenAI also offers paid tiers for its most advanced versions of GPT, it makes sense for Google to try and tap into this market as well. Running LLMs takes a lot of energy and server infrastructure. Given that Google’s regular ad-based approach doesn’t work for LLMs (at least right now), going for a paid tier this quickly might be a way to recoup some of the losses.
