Google is planning to shift its focus to Gemini in 2025, with its CEO Sundar Pichai noting that it will be a “critical” year. According to the CEO, the company is expecting to face increased competition in the face of regulatory hurdles that will pose enough challenges for firms in the industry. He also expects rapid improvements in the artificial intelligence industry going into the new year.
According to CNBC , the Google CEO and other top executives talked about plans for the new year, especially what it has in store for the new year. The 2025 strategy meeting was attended by all employees, with some of them attending virtually. According to Pichai, 2025 is a year where the stakes will be high, noting that there will be several disruptive moments in the year.
Google CEO discusses plans for Gemini in 2025
Google CEO Sundar Pichai also talked about getting the maximum benefits from the technology, noting that they can use it to solve real user problems. “I think it’s really important we internalize the urgency of this moment and need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments,” he said.
Google has dominated the search engine business. However, generative AI has shaken things up, forcing the company to step up in the face of competition. OpenAI started to enjoy adoption in 2022, propelling the company to a $157 billion valuation, thanks to investors like Microsoft. The company also announced in July that it will launch its search engine soon.
Google is also stepping up, especially with the launch of its AI model Gemini . The app provides users with many functions, especially access to the company’s chatbot. Pichai sees Gemini as the next big thing, because it is close to the half-billion mark, a milestone that 15 other Google apps have hit in the past.
Pichai said Gemini is currently gaining momentum, noting that Google only needs to work hard to close the gap in 2025. “With the Gemini app, there is strong momentum, particularly over the last few months,” he said. “But we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position there as well.” Similarly, he feels all of that will be possible if they can scale the Gemini app to help users in 2025.
Pichai wants to focus on making better products
During the meeting, Pichai showed the attendees a list of large language models, where Gemini 1.5 led others. The list also included OpenAI’s ChatGPT and others. He mentioned that he expects rivals to challenge them and vice versa. Pichai also said he feels the company will be state-of-the-art, but concedes that they might have to play catch-up at some point.
He explained that the company needs to focus on making better products instead of being the first. “In history, you don’t always need to be first but you have to execute well and be the best in class as a product, I think that’s what 2025 is all about,” he said.
During the question session, an employee asked about what the company intends to do to rival other platforms in the AI space. Pichai passed the question to DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis who said they had plans to turbocharge the Gemini app. He said the market has been warming up to it, noting that they have recorded an influx of users since it launched in February. He also added the products are supposed to evolve over the next two years.
Another employee asked how the company intends to scale its AI products without charging consumers $200 a month like other platforms. Hassabis said the company is not prepared to charge extravagantly for subscriptions, noting that a $20 per month charge will be good value if consumers intend to use the Gemini service. However, he said that there are no plans for that yet.
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