Charles Lyons-Burt
Artificial intelligence has been a presence in the government contracting world for decades now — at the recent Raymond James Defense and Government Conference, Parsons CEO and Wash100 awardee Carey Smith said it’s been an established part of the company’s toolbox for many years. Generative AI such as large language models, which are programmed via many-tiered language sets to assess inputs and return a comprehensible output, have also been around for a while, but they’ve gained a new public profile by way of some exciting new offerings from major technology companies.
Below we present a rundown of chatbot products derived from LLMs that are attracting attention and catching the eye of GovCon companies, who are considering how these public-facing tools can benefit their work serving the government’s mission.
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ChatGPT
Launched: November 2022
Creator: OpenAI
User count: 180.5 million
Training data size (in TB): 170
History: The release of ChatGPT, a chatbot derived from OpenAI’s GPT-4o LLM, was responsible for igniting the AI craze in late 2022. Its seamless ability to provide quick, fairly accurate responses that mimic a human cadence made it extremely popular, garnering record numbers of site visits and subscriptions for a software service in only a matter of months. ChatGPT undoubtedly paved the way for and inspired the subsequent names on this list, who all arose as competitors in the short period after its release.
In August 2024, ChatGPT moved into the stable release phase, indicating it had passed all verifications and tests. Still, it continues to draw criticism for its “hallucinations”—inaccurate responses or glitches in logic that result in faulty answers.
Gemini
Launched: March 2023
Creator: Google
User count: 42 million active
Training data size (in TB): 120
What it does and what makes it different: Gemini is a chatbot that attempts to answer all fielded queries and create content at users’ behest. It was initially called Bard and is the follow-up to LaMDA and PaLM 2, two previous Google AI products. These products were not rolled out in a significant way because of an abundance of caution, however, once ChatGPT was released, Google leadership was eager to present their equivalent to the OpenAI product.
Claude
Launched: March 2023
Creator: Anthropic
User count: 54.4 million monthly visitors
Training data size (in TB): 150
Key details: Claude is trained by Anthropic’s Constitutional AI model, which tries to ensure the chatbot will operate based on ethical human principles. It is also known for its “transparency and traceability,” according to one Medium writer. “Unlike some other AI systems that operate as a ‘black box’, Claude provides detailed explanations for its decisions and actions,” the user describes.
Microsoft Copilot
Launched: February 2023
Creator: Microsoft
User count: 28 million monthly visitors
Training data size (in TB): unpublished
Origins: Microsoft and OpenAI have collaborated since 2019 and the pair’s AI offerings and work have been entwined since then. Copilot is based on the GPT-4 LLM from OpenAI. It was initially called Bing Chat when it launched but has since rebranded. Along with the rebrand has come the full integration of Copilot into Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system, including the creation of a button on Windows keyboards dedicated to Copilot and an introduction into the ubiquitous Office 365 suite.
Don’t miss the “R&D Priorities to Deliver Trusted AI-enabled Systems for Combatant Command Missions” panel at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit in January, during which public and private sector experts will explore how AI is being harnessed for critical defense mission areas. Reserve a spot today; tickets are going fast.
