In a matter of days, the calendar will turn to 2025 and Alphabet unit Google will embark on a “critical” year according to Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Google faces the possibility of getting ripped apart by the Department of Justice with the possibility that it could be forced to spinoff the Android operating system, the Chrome Browser, and its Search Engine. Pichai told Google employees that during 2025, “the stakes are high.”
Besides battles on the regulatory, legal, and competitive fronts, Google has to battle against other tech firms to see who ends up as the leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Google is investing big bucks on its AI model called Gemini and recently Google released a Gemini app for iOS users. Google Search remains the top search engine in the world although AI could be the future of search. OpenAI has kicked off ChatGPT search and Perplexity, a start-up valued at $9 billion, has an AI-powered search service.
AI is certainly closer to replacing digital assistants. Gemini is being used by many to answer queries instead of Google Assistant and Apple has just added ChatGPT integration to Siri on iPhone models that support Apple Intelligence.
On December 18th, Google held a strategy meeting at its headquarters in Mountain View California to discuss next year. Some unable to attend checked into the meeting virtually. Audio obtained by CNBC caught Pichai saying that the stakes are high and that Google needs to be focused on figuring out ways to unlock AI and use it to solve user problems.
2024 was a tough year for Google. Back in August, a federal judge ruled that Google has a monopoly in search. In another case, Google was accused by the DOJ of illegally dominating online ad technology. Google awaits the judge’s ruling in that case. In the U.K., Google’s is accused of stifling competition with its online ad technology.
“It’s not lost on me that we are facing scrutiny across the world. It comes with our size and success. It’s part of a broader trend where tech is now impacting society at scale. So more than ever, through this moment, we have to make sure we don’t get distracted.”-Sundar Pichai, Alphabet, Google CEO
Building out the Gemini app is a top priority for Google executives who see it as the next wildly successful Google app to reach 500 million users. Currently, Google has 15 apps with that many users.
Google’s Gemini is going to be in a tough competitive battle with ChatGPT and other generative AI models. During the meeting, Pichai revealed a chart of large language models that showed Gemini 1.5 on top of ChatGPT and other rivals. The executive said, “In history, you don’t always need to be first but you have to execute well and really be the best in class as a product. I think that’s what 2025 is all about.”
Google’s top executive also said that since February, the Gemini app has seen a huge improvement in the number of users. Pichai said, “The products themselves are going to evolve massively over the next year or two.”
