Google search engine to get AI support, CEO Sundar Pichai says

Google’s search business accounts for more than half of the company’s revenue. Search ads brought $162 billion revenue to Alphabet last year.

He said that Google has now yet achieved a goal of becoming 20% more productive, a target he set in September. “We are definitely being focused on creating durable savings,” Pichai said. “We are pleased with the progress, but there is more work left to do.”

Google, he said, is testing several new search products including AI search engine versions that allow users to ask follow-up questions. Last month Google said that it would begin “thoughtfully integrating LLMs into search in a deeper way.” 

In March this year, Google announced that it is enabling access to its large language models (LLMs) through an application programming interface (API) for select developers, as well as integrating generative artificial intelligence (AI) features into Gmail and Google Docs as part of its Workspace suite for a select few users. 

The new trial adds a host of experiments to numerous Google tools that are used by businesses and consumers alike, which Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud, said will be expanded through the year.

During the interview, Pichai said that the company’s two main AI units – Google Brain and DeepMind will work together more closely on efforts to build large algorithms.

“I expect a lot more, stronger collaboration, because some of these efforts will be more compute-intensive, so it makes sense to do it at a certain scale together,” Pichai said. 

He said that over time smaller AI models will become more useful, enabling companies to design their own or users to run the algorithms on their own personal devices.

“You’ll have a whole diverse range of options,” Pichai said. “The technology will be more accessible than people expect.”