Google is one of the largest tech companies on the planet, and it’s well-positioned to be the largest AI company as well. It definitely has the money to do so. While that’s the case, Google seems to keep stumbling along the path to that goal. Well, Gmail’s creator just weighed in on why Google can’t get a leg up in the AI race.
Gmail just celebrated its 20th birthday this year. It revolutionized the email market with its amazing perks back in the day. Nowadays, the platform has more than 1.8 billion users around the world, and that number is going up as time goes on.
It’s a Google product, but it was developed by Paul Buchheit. He recently spoke on the Y Combinator Startup podcast, and during the episode, he clued us in on some inside baseball with Google.
Gmail’s creator tells us why Gmail isn’t winning the AI race
During the podcast, Buchheit touched on why Google just can’t get ahead with its AI pursuits. Despite the fact that it’s come out with some impressive AI products, it’s been swatting controversy after controversy. Gemini still doesn’t generate images of human beings, even after months. Also, the whole “glue on pizza” debacle with AI Overviews still leaves a bad taste in our mouths. The company can’t seem to get a grasp on its own AI technology despite being a leader just a few years ago.
According to Buchheit, Google started losing its grip on the AI market as early as nearly 10 years ago. The company reorganized when it was acquired by Alphabet in 2015. Since then, the company’s focus shifted to maintaining its dominance over the search market. Well, it looks like it worked because Google Search is deemed an illegal Search market monopoly.
Google is THE search engine company, so it makes sense that the company would focus on its cash cow. “They have, you know, this gold mine, like search is just so valuable,” Buchheit said. However, AI can be a wrench in the company’s gears. “AI is an inherently disruptive technology.”
He explained how AI chatbots could negatively affect the search engine market. The thing is that, when your answers are generated for you, there’s not much reason to go to pages hosting ads. If the company hosts its AI overviews, there’s a chance that it could see a huge dip in its ad revenue. So, its split focus on AI and search is what’s keeping it from being the top AI company.
2024-08-12 15:04:45