Google is shutting down Duplex on the Web. The AI powered service auto-filled certain information, pulled from the user’s profile, if one was trying to order food, book movie tickets, make travel plans, and more.
Duplex on the Web was first introduced by Google in 2019. The company recently revealed that it will pull the curtains on the application by the end of 2022.
Duplex on the Web
“As we continue to improve the Duplex experience, we’re responding to the feedback we’ve heard from users and developers about how to make it even better,” a Google spokesperson told TechCrunch via email, adding that Duplex on the Web partners have been notified to help them prepare for the shutdown. “By the end of this year, we’ll turn down Duplex on the Web and fully focus on making AI advancements to the Duplex voice technology that helps people most every day.”
The AI powered service was initially started to help people fill in their personal details automatically. From there, the service expanded to letting users change passwords, check-in for flights, identify discounts, and aid e-commerce merchant checkouts with Google Assistant. Later, Google shored up its security to prevent data breaches.
Duplex was supposed to be the Google Assistant helper who would take monotonous work off your hands. For example, if you ordered Google Assistant to book your flight tickets for the 25th, it would pull up the relevant web page and autofill your details. Although the rollout was slow, what made it tedious is that only a few sites and partners supported it, with specific uses.
The application was also resource-intensive and crawled the sites several hours a day, to understand how sites were laid out and to train for future use.
Why did Google shut down the Duplex?
The application crawls all the websites of all its partners to scrape data to auto-populate as per the latest information. Experts speculate that Google is shutting down the AI powered service as costs outweigh benefits.
It is rumored that some brands might have been uncomfortable with Google’s service coming between them and users. Some reports even suggest that the decision to axe the Duplex might have been taken as the tech giant is cutting corners with the Assistant for devices not made by the company. Doing away with the Duplex might have been an extension of this.
In October, Google released its Q3 earnings report. The company reported a revenue of $69.1 billion, which is 6% more than the same period last year. However, it has lower operating income making $17 billion in comparison to the $21 billion of Q3 in 2021.
In the Q3 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai made it clear that Google is evaluating its priorities and is moving away from products that don’t make money immediately. Pichai mentioned that the team is sharpening their focus on a “clear set of product and business priorities.”
Google and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat echoed Pichai’s sentiments stating, “Financial results for the third quarter reflect healthy fundamental growth in Search and momentum in Cloud, while affected by foreign exchange.” To combat these issues, the company is “working to realign resources to fuel our highest growth priorities.” In August, Google revamped its search top prioritize quality above everything else.
The axing of the Duplex on the Web could be part of Google’s realignment strategy as the company prepares for a tougher economic climate. Experts have predicted that recession 2023 is close and companies have started cutting costs to protect their business. Google is one of the tech firms that also has plans to lay off nearly 10,000 workers by early next year. Only time will tell why Google chose to shut down the Duplex, but the one thing that is clear is that its days have been numbered.
