A Bill Gates-Backed Startup has Launched an AI Chatbot for Personalized Movie and Book Recommendations

By Sara Marie On Oct 8, 2023

The chatbot is powered by OpenAI language processing technology and will learn user preferences over time.

Bill Gates, the billionaire entrepreneur, announced in March that “the Age of AI has begun.” At least one of his ventures is based on how artificial intelligence will assist consumers pick their entertainment.

Likewise, on Thursday, an early-stage firm supported by Gates’ private office will unveil a chatbot that will provide customers with tailored suggestions for books, movies, TV series, and podcasts. Pix, the chatbot, is powered by OpenAI’s natural-language processing engine and will learn the preferences of users over time. Users will be able to access it for free.

The Gates-backed business intends to leverage its 600 million customer data points to differentiate its media-recommendation technology from the existing one-size-fits-all chatbots. Unlike recommendation technologies found in streaming services, Pix will propose material across platforms to consumers who text, email, or ask inquiries via its app.

“That personal agent aspect is going to be a big part of what we see people doing in the next couple years,” Likewise CEO Ian Morris said. “That’s something we’re looking to really define.”

Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT debut about a year ago, some of the greatest names in technology have jumped into the race to build the technology. Microsoft MSFT decline; red down pointing triangle spent billions in OpenAI in order to gain early access to the startup’s generative artificial-intelligence technology, which can generate text and pictures in response to suggestions.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, has been a proponent of developing AI and has met with OpenAI since 2016

Similarly, it confronts the difficult job of establishing momentum with customers, who have been swamped with discussion of new AI capabilities this year. It will also have to demonstrate that its technology works.

Some chatbots have been found to make up replies or provide false facts, a condition known as hallucination. Morris believes Pix will face the same issues.

“We’re going to have those same challenges and I think that’s something that is going to be part of any of these AI services for a while,” Morris stated.

Gates, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and will leave the board in 2020, has long advocated for AI development and has met with OpenAI since 2016. He became interested in ChatGPT after seeing it ace a college-level biology exam ahead of its introduction last autumn.

“I knew I had just seen the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface,” he said in a March blog post.

In addition to Microsoft, Google, and Meta’s efforts to incorporate the technology into their commercial offerings, Elon Musk, an early investor in OpenAI, founded xAI. Bret Taylor, a former Twitter chairman, said earlier this year that he was working on an AI-related firm but did not provide any information. Reid Hoffman, a well-known Silicon Valley investor, recently reduced his job at venture capital company Greylock to explore AI research.

Users of Pix will obtain thorough solutions to their inquiries in minutes. According to Morris, the responses should improve and become more tailored as Pix learns more about the user.

Pix is constantly updated with the latest video from streaming providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and Max.