Google's Biggest Bet: AI Integration in Search, Says Chief Investment Officer

'It's Extraordinary': This Is the Biggest Bet Google Is Making, According to Its Chief Investment Officer

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the 'New York Times' DealBook Summit last week that Search will get even more AI enhancements next year. Google has made multi-million dollar investments in founders, internet infrastructure and clean energy, but its biggest gamble so far has been choosing to add AI to search, says Google's chief investment officer and president Ruth Porat. "The biggest bet we continue to make is actually the application of AI to search and continuing to evolve that experience," Porat said earlier this week at the Reuters NEXT Conference. "We're meeting people where they want to be met. It's extraordinary." Porat mentioned that it was "beautiful" to see Google Search go from "10 blue links," or the 10 links per page that characterized Google's old search result interface, to now AI overviews, or AI-written summaries of search results that populate at the top of Search. "It keeps evolving," she said. Google began rolling out AI overviews to U.S. users in May. Almost immediately, things started going wrong. The AI search results were hallucinating or spewing inaccuracies, telling users to eat rocks or make pizza sauce with non-toxic glue, for example. Related: These Are AI's 'Most Obvious' Risks, According to Google's Former CEO In the following months, Google adjusted the sources that it drew from for AI overviews, shifting away from forum-based sites like Reddit and more to sites with specialized knowledge, like Runners World. Now, it's clear that Google intends to keep adding AI features to search, even if it is a risky move. Last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained at the New York Times DealBook Summit that Google Search will significantly change next year. As AI models get more advanced, Search will be able to handle more complex questions than ever. "I think you'll be surprised even early in '25 the kind of newer things Search can do compared to where it is today," he said. Related: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says 'You'll Be Surprised' By How Google Search Changes Next Year Google has 89.98% of the global search engine market share, according to Stat Counter, with competitors like Bing and Yahoo! only holding 3.94% and 1.24% respectively.

Google's Biggest Bet is AI for Search, Investment Chief Says

Competition with OpenAI has required Google to navigate tricky terrain Alphabet, the Google parent that has pioneered self-driving cars and quantum computing, is making its biggest bet much closer to home: online search. Applying artificial intelligence to the search business that made Google a household name remains the largest gambit for the company, Ruth Porat, Alphabet's president and chief investment officer, said at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York on Tuesday. "We're meeting people where they want to be next," said Porat, in an interview with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni. Alphabet, which makes much of its over $300 billion (roughly Rs. 25,45,814 crore) in annual revenue from search-related advertising, has injected AI-generated overviews to queries with no obvious answer, in one example of its efforts. The move followed competition from ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and has required Google to navigate tricky terrain, in which AI sometimes makes up information in what are called "hallucinations." Search will keep evolving, said Porat, who previously was Google and Alphabet's longest-serving chief financial officer. Google Cloud is another key investment, she said. Twice diagnosed with breast cancer, Porat also pointed to myriad efforts by Alphabet to improve healthcare. She cited its pioneering of "AlphaFold," an AI system that predicts the folds of proteins that the company is applying toward drug discovery through its Isomorphic Labs division. She said AI can secure eyesight for people at risk of losing it and free up medical professionals from their screens so they can focus on care. "It can restore humanity into the doctor-patient relationship," she said, citing her own doctor's hopes. Asked if the cost of Alphabet's investments in AI would follow sky-high industry trends, Porat said the technology represented a "generational opportunity." The company is on track to spend $50 billion on chips, data centers and other capital expenses in 2024, it has told analysts. But Alphabet would ground its bets in results.

Google's biggest bet is AI for search, investment chief says

(Reuters) - Alphabet, the Google parent that has pioneered self-driving cars and quantum computing, is making its biggest bet much closer to home: online search. Applying artificial intelligence to the search business that made Google a household name remains the largest gambit for the company, Ruth Porat, Alphabet's president and chief investment officer, said at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York on Tuesday. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Google's biggest bet is AI for search, investment chief says

Dec 10 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, the Google parent that has pioneered self-driving cars and quantum computing, is making its biggest bet much closer to home: online search. Applying artificial intelligence to the search business that made Google a household name remains the largest gambit for the company, Ruth Porat, Alphabet's president and chief investment officer, said at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York on Tuesday. Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence