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Google’s AI Search Service SGE Available in Japan on Trial Basis

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:08 JST, August 30, 2023

Google’s generative artificial intelligence search engine arrived Wednesday in Japan on a trial basis.

Introduced in the United States in May, the U.S. big tech company made Japan the second nation to have access to Search Generative Experience (SGE).

This February, U.S. tech giant Microsoft launched the generative AI-powered version of its rival search engine, Bing.

SGE is operated separately from Google’s conventional search engine and its generative AI service Bard.

At the moment, it is available free to users who register with Google’s Search Labs app for experimental services.

With SGE, users can type questions into the search engine. While the conventional search engine displays links, the SGE service displays text generated based on search results, allowing users to get relevant information without reading through several websites. Users can then ask follow-up questions in a conversational style.