Didn't Google have Bard internally around the same time as ChatGPT?
There were other, less-available prototypes prior to that.
> In June 2022, LaMDA gained widespread attention when Google engineer Blake Lemoine made claims that the chatbot had become sentient. The scientific community has largely rejected Lemoine's claims...
Damn, that's crazy. Or at least in hindsight it is. I don't remember anything big deal being made about it back then.