Alphabet Analyst Talks ChatGPT: How Much Traffic Has Shifted From Google To Bing?

Artificial intelligence has been a hot topic on Wall Street since OpenAI launched its ChatGPT prototype in November 2022.

OpenAI investor Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine in February, a move that spooked some Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) investors.

On Monday, Bank of America analyst Justin Post took a closer look at how Bing and Google's numbers have been impacted by Bing's ChatGPT integration.

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The Numbers: Post said the ratio of Google to Bing mobile app downloads stood at about 20x in early February, but plummeted to just 1.2x following the ChatGPT news. Fortunately for Alphabet investors, Post said the ratio has recovered somewhat to around 3.3x over the past two weeks.

"The uptick in Bing downloads has not impacted Google download activity, which has been stable in January and February, and we are not aware of any slowing in Google search revenues that could be attributed to the late-2022 ChatGPT launch," Post said.

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While Google has not been negatively impacted by ChatGPT up to this point, there's no question the AI chatbot has been a huge success. Post said ChatGPT daily traffic was up 96% month-over-month in February.

In the long-term, Post said AI will be a tremendous growth driver for Alphabet, providing advantages in search, cloud services and autonomous vehicle technology.

Bank of America has a "buy" rating and $125 price target for Alphabet and a "buy" rating and $300 price target for Microsoft.

Benzinga's Take: ChatGPT has generated a huge amount of interest for Microsoft and Bing, which has translated to a major jump in Bing downloads. Fortunately for Alphabet investors, it appears much of this interest has been incremental and is not coming at the expense of Google's search business.