Mountain, View - Google has announced that its AI chatbot Bard, the tech giant's rival to the Microsoft-affiliated ChatGPT, is being rolled out in 180 countries around the world.

Bard, which now speaks English, Japanese and Korean, is being kept out of the European Union due to unanswered questions about the bloc's legal framework.

Bard is getting an improved design and results, notably with clear sourcing for its information, a dark mode, and the option to export programming code that it has generated, Google announced at its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday.

Showcased above all in its ability to answer complex questions, Bard is able to formulate complete sentences in response to queries while providing the usual internet links and sources for its information.

"What's better for a family with kids under 3 and a dog," was one of the sample questions put to Bard with reference to two US parks.

To this, Bard gives key information answering the question, links to further information, as well as follow-up questions about things like how much time to spend at certain parks.

Bard is Google's answer to ChatGPT from the Californian start-up OpenAI, which in turn is closely linked to Microsoft through billions in investments.

The search giant has so far held back on introducing AI into all of its operations, citing responsible use of the technology, and it stood by that position at I/O.

"The only way to be truly bold in the long-term is to be responsible from the start," James Manyika, in charge of social responsibility in the use of AI at Google, said.

The company sees the danger that the software could strengthen prejudices or be used to produce false information.

To protect against this, files generated with the help of Google's AI are to be provided with metadata so that they can be recognized immediately.