ChatGPT‘s capabilities are captivating the industry as enterprises begin to explore the use cases. Some experts have issued warnings about bad actors taking advantage of the tool to increase ransomware attacks — worried that it could democratize cybercrime, thus increasing it.  The tool is already so powerful that it even has some questioning the future of search engines like Google — which has ruled the most-used spot in the search tool category since 2000. Earlier this week, Google told CNBC that some employees had expressed concern internally about the search giant losing its edge to ChatGPT. 

Meanwhile, another competitor in the space, You.com, opened its search platform up to external developers so they can build their own apps for its search results page to integrate more AI capabilities — this also includes generative AI, the company noted.

Along with news of enhancing search engines, this week the Linux Foundation detailed news of its efforts to revamp mapping technology with the formation of the Overture Maps Foundation. The foundation will focus on incorporating rising technologies like augmented reality (AR)  into map building as interest in and tools for the metaverse are also on the rise. What this means for Google’s own map tool will be seen in time. The company incorporated AR into its maps feature back in 2019 and has continued to expand these capabilities since.

It also remains to be seen what direction the future of Google’s search engine may head as a result of ChatGPT’s sharp competitive capabilities. However, Google’s vast focus areas outside of search also made news this week. It debuted the OSV-Scanner this week in an effort to assist developers with identifying known vulnerabilities — and patches for them — in open-source projects.

Its OSV-Scanner release comes at an opportune time. As we begin to learn more about ChatGPT’s possibility to be used to create ransomware with ease, many, including IBM researchers, predict that 2023 will see a rise in the number of attacks, hackers and in cyber-crime-as-a-service ecosystems.