Google CEO Sundar Pichai drops big hint on AI, search engine

Tech giant Google is planning to add artificial intelligence (AI) features to its search engine. This comes as it battles intense competition from Open AI's chatbot ChatGPT.

In an interview to Wall Street Journal, Google chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai said that the new AI features will enhance the search engine's ability to answer queries. He rejected the notion that chatbots are a threat to Google's search business. The search business accounts for more than half of revenue at its parent Alphabet. The search ads are the biggest moneymaker for the company, bringing in $162 billion revenue last year.

A leader in developing large language models (LLM), Google is yet to develop technology to influence the search patterns. Pichai said people will be able to ask questions and engage with these large language models. The rival Microsoft has deployed this technology behind the ChatGPT system in its Bing search engine.

This is one of the toughest threats to Google under Pichai as he faces investor pressures on cost cuts. In January, Google laid off 12,000 jobs which is the largest till date. The CEO said Google is yet to achieve its goal of beoming 20 per cent more productive.

According to a latest report, Google is also testing new AI features in Gmail. On the other hand, Microsoft is offering AI in some of its other business software tools. The Mountain View-based technology behemoth is being cautious in terms of technology as the researchers have expressed concerns about the accuracy of AI-powered chatbots. Pichai said it needs to adapt its use resources to continue its work in AI while managing costs.

According to the WSJ report, Google is aiming to win wider business. Last month it opened access to one of its largest AI systems, the Pathways Language Model for developers on its cloud-computing service.