Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, on January 22, 2020.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
CEO of Google Sundar Pichai She told employees last week that “the risks are high” for 2025, as the company faces increased competition, regulatory hurdles and faces rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
At a 2025 strategy meeting on Dec. 18, Pichai and other Google leaders, wearing ugly holiday sweaters, expressed interest in the year ahead, most notably regarding what's to come in artificial intelligence, according to an audio recording obtained by CNBC.
“I think 2025 will be decisive,” Pichai said. “I think it's really important that we embrace the urgency of this moment, and we need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments. In 2025, we need to be relentlessly focused on harnessing the benefits of this technology and solving real user problems.”
Some employees attended the meeting in person at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, while others followed the meeting virtually.
Pichai's comments come after a year filled with some of the most poignant comments Extreme pressure Google has been around since going public two decades ago. While areas like search advertising and the cloud have had strong revenue growth, competition has increased in Google's core markets, and the company has faced Internal challenges Including cultural clashes and concerns about Pichai's vision for the future.
In addition, regulation is now heavier than ever.
In August, a federal judge to rule That Google illegally monopolizes the search market. In November, the Justice Department requested that Google do so He was forced to divest Chrome internet browser module. In a separate case, the Justice Department accused the company of illegally controlling online advertising technology. That trial ended in September and she awaits the judge's ruling.
In the same month, Britain Competition monitor It has issued a statement of objections to Google's ad tech practices, which the regulator has provisionally found to impact competition in the UK
“It is not lost on me that we face scrutiny around the world,” Pichai said. “It comes with our size and success. It's part of a broader trend where technology is now impacting society on a large scale. So, more than ever, during this moment, we have to make sure we don't get distracted.”
A Google spokesman declined to comment.
Google's search business still has a dominant market share, but generative AI has introduced all kinds of new ways for people to access information online, and brought with it a host of new competitors.
OpenAI's ChatGPT kicked off the hype cycle in late 2022, including investors Microsoft It has since pushed the company to a $157 billion valuation. In July, OpenAI announced that it would launch a project Search engine Her own. Perplexity is also promoting its AI-powered search service, and recently closed a $500 million funding round in $9 billion valuation.
Google is investing heavily to try to stay on top, mainly through its Gemini AI model. The Gemini app gives users access to a number of tools, including Google's chatbot.
Pichai said “building big, new businesses” is a top priority. That includes Gemini, which executives said they view as Google's next app to reach half a billion users. The company currently has 15 apps that have reached this mark.
“With Gemini, there is strong momentum, especially over the past few months,” Pichai said. “But we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position there as well.”
“Sizing Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year,” Pichai later added.
“You don't always have to be first.”
At the meeting, Pichai showed a blueprint for large language models, with OpenAI's Gemini 1.5 GPT and other competitors ahead.
“I expect some volatility” in 2025, Pichai said. “I think we will be on the cutting edge.”
He admitted that Google had to play catch-up.
“In history, you don't always need to be first but you have to execute well and be best in class as a product,” he said. “I think that's what 2025 is all about.”
Executives received questions sent by employees through Google's internal system. One comment that Pichai read aloud suggested that ChatGPT “has become synonymous with AI in the same way as Google search,” with the questioner asking: “What's our plan to combat this in the next year? Or are we not so focused on consumer-facing LLM?”
For the answer, Pichai turned to Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, who said that teams will “turbo charge” the Gemini app and that the company has seen progress in users since launching the app in February. “The products themselves will evolve significantly over the next year or two,” he said.
Hassabis described a vision of a universal assistant that “can work seamlessly on any domain, any method, or any device.”
Project Astra, Google's beta version of a universal assistant announced by the company In May, and will be updated in the first half of the year.
Another question asked employees whether Google would be able to scale its AI products without charging $200 a month “like other companies.”
“Right now, we don't have any plans for that kind of subscription level,” Hassabis replied, adding that he believes the $20 monthly fee for Gemini Advanced represents good value. “I wouldn't necessarily say never but there are no plans for that at the moment.”
At the end of the meeting, Google welcomed Josh Woodward, head of Google Labs, to the stage. He took the microphone while the Zombie Nation song “Kernkraft 400” played loudly in the background.
“I'm going to try to do six demos in eight minutes,” said Woodward, who is known for his high energy level.
Woodward began by reviewing Jules, a programming assistant at a trusted testing program. “This is where the future of software development is headed,” he said.
Woodward then pivoted to AI-based note-taking product NotebookLM, which included a series of updates in 2024, including a podcast tool. Woodward explained how the company is trying out a new feature that would allow a user to “connect” with podcasts.
Then move on to Project Mariner, an AI-powered multitasking Chrome extension. Woodward asked him to add the best restaurants from TripAdvisor To the Maps application. After a short pause, the demonstration was a success, leading to an explosion of applause from the employees present.
Throughout the meeting, Pichai continued to remind employees of the need to “stay tense.” Google has gone through an extensive phase of cost-cutting that included shedding about 6% of its workforce in 2023 and a continued focus on efficiency.
As of the end of the third quarter, Alphabet had 181,269 employees, down about 5% from the end of 2022.
At one point, Pichai referenced Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brinwho founded the company 26 years ago, long before the advent of cloud computing or artificial intelligence tools.
“In the early days of Google, when you look at the way the founders built our data centers, they were really unsure about every decision they made,” Pichai said. “Often, constraints lead to creativity. Not all problems are always solved by headcount.”
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