ChatGPT Bandwagon Runs Over Chegg

Are we at peak ChatGPT hype yet? It seems every company has got the memo that they need to declare how they’re using the technology. Just today, for instance, we heard from Uber (artificial intelligence will help Uber predict ETAs more accurately for riders), Box (announcing Box AI, “a breakthrough in how you can interact with your content”) and Snap, pitching advertisers on how they can put ads into its new AI chatbot, My AI, according to TechCrunch. All appear to be hoping a bit of the AI pixie dust will lift their stocks, just as it did, briefly, for otherwise struggling digital media firm BuzzFeed earlier this year. 

In some cases, though, investors are punishing stocks they deem vulnerable to ChatGPT. Case in point: online education firm Chegg, which revealed on Monday night that the chatbot was hurting its “new customer growth rate,” making things so uncertain the company didn’t offer a full-year outlook as it has previously done. Chegg tried to soften the blow by reminding investors about a partnership it announced two weeks ago with ChatGPT’s owner, OpenAI, for a new learning service called—wait for it—CheggMate. Unfortunately for Chegg, investors saw through the ruse: Chegg stock plunged 48% today. You might say Chegg tried to jump on the ChatGPT bandwagon, only to get tangled in its wheels.