DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by ghastmaster on Wednesday May 27, 2026 @09:11PM (#48303008)

>The AI product rollouts in the last two years have been some of the most aggressive and user hostile product rollouts in my entire life.

>I’ve had the worst customer experiences of my life in the last few months.

I attribute that to the massive amount of tax breaks and money that has been funneled to them by various governments. The government is the customer that they are appeasing right now. As soon as the spigot is turned off, they will be more inclined to appease us.

I do not know the consumer or b2b AI market well right now. I do know that billions of dollars are at stake from government sources. A smart company would focus on that.

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by marcus_holmes on Thursday May 28, 2026 @01:19AM (#48304886)

I'm not aware of any government handouts for tech companies adding AI to their products, can you give an example, please?

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by LtWorf on Thursday May 28, 2026 @07:09AM (#48307316)

https://openai.com/it-IT/index/our-agreement-with-the-depart...

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by heyjamesknight on Thursday May 28, 2026 @09:47AM (#48308926)

The Department of War is a customer, there's no handout here.

The government does procure services from private firms, this isn't new or special.

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by shimman on Thursday May 28, 2026 @01:06PM (#48311987)

Uhh, the entire contract is a form of corporate welfare. So yes, the DoW giving money to these companies is a handout.

Just because it benefits them doesn't mean it's not a handout, especially when said money could be used elsewhere for purposes that actually benefit everyone and not a dozen people living in SF.

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by heyjamesknight on Friday May 29, 2026 @09:27AM (#48322845)

No, welfare is when you're given money for value you're not providing. It's a net drain on the system.

This is a government entity procuring a product they need from a private entity.

You can dislike it, but it's not a handout. Words have meaning.

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by LtWorf on Friday May 29, 2026 @01:18AM (#48319356)

Except it's buying a product that doesn't even exist yet…

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Re:DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said p... by kradeelav on Thursday May 28, 2026 @10:33AM (#48309510)

The AI Workforce Training Act is closer to what OP was mentioning; the last paragraph of this article suggests more. https://fedscoop.com/ai-workforce-tax-credit-house-bill/

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