Despite its relatively recent launch, generative AI -- notably, OpenAI’s ChatGPT -- is beginning to penetrate the corporate world.
Already, employers are looking for people with knowledge of ChatGPT, and big companies, such as BuzzFeed, are reducing their workforces as they focus on ChatGPT-driven efficiency.
Chegg (CHGG) -- the online education firm -- is the latest entry in the ongoing tale of AI threat followed by AI adaptation.
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Chegg shares tumbled more than 45% Tuesday morning following the company’s Monday night earnings, in which Chegg’s CEO highlighted the way ChatGPT is already impacting its business.
“In the first part of the year, we saw no noticeable impact from ChatGPT on our new account growth and we were meeting expectations on new sign-ups,” Dan Rosensweig, Chegg’s CEO and president said. “However, since March we saw a significant spike in student interest in ChatGPT. We now believe it’s having an impact on our new customer growth rate.”
Rosensweig highlighted AI as the “next big shift” in technology, likening it to the creation of the internet, and began to sketch out an AI-focused strategy for Chegg moving forward.
The focal point of this strategy is a new service called CheggMate, which is the result of a collaboration with OpenAI. The service seeks to combine the quick personalization and efficiency of ChatGPT with Chegg’s infrastructure, though it could be some time until its release. The firm is looking to launch a beta version of CheggMate later in the month, but said it won’t have a good idea of how it is performing until at least the fall, if not later.
“As artificial intelligence technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we are embracing it aggressively and prioritizing our investments to meet this opportunity,” Rosensweig said. “We believe we are in the best position to take advantage of the advancements in AI for the benefit of students, because we can leverage our proprietary data, our 150,000+ experts, and our decade-plus years of experience as we launch CheggMate.”
