Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged at the company’s year-end strategy meeting that the AI models powering Google Gemini are behind it. OpenAI and ChatGPT but he promised a real push in 2025 to get Gemini to surpass its rivals, like reported from CNBC.
Pichai’s directive comes across as more serious than the usual corporate rah-rah; it’s a statement that Google will no longer lose ground in a race it once led. Google’s near-bottomless coffers and huge infrastructure give it a good chance to come out on top in 12 months, but only because the company is no longer resting on the laurels it’s been polishing since the early 2000s .
“In history, you don’t always need to be the first, but you have to execute well and really be the best in class as a product,” Pichai said at the meeting. “I think this is 2025.”
Pichai’s rallying cry undoubtedly highlights how much pressure the company is under. Gemini, presented as Google’s great hope in artificial intelligence, has yet to live up to its hype. While ChatGPT has become synonymous with generative AI, Google’s Gemini still feels like the scrappy underdog. Of course, Pichai says that Gemini 1.5 surpasses GPT in technical capabilities, but let’s be real – perception matters.
If the average user associates “AI” with ChatGPT instead of Google, the company’s dominance is in jeopardy. Pichai’s point that “you don’t always have to be the first” is true, but Google’s slow start is vulnerable to losing its pioneering reputation.
Meta, meanwhile, is dropping mountains of cash on AI, with the Meta AI assistant arriving on its platforms and on new hardware like AI-enhanced Ray-Ban smart glasses and Orion headphones. Meta’s AI investments are impressive, but its sprawling empire could actually limit how cohesive its strategy can be in relation to Google’s plans with Gemini.
If Google was slow off the mark, Apple I would still be asleep in bed when the starting gun went off. again, Tim Cook and the company has made some big moves to embed AI into its products. Apple has developed AI internally and partnered with AI developers, including OpenAI, maintaining the distinct Apple user experience for Siri and other services. Apple’s strategy may seem overly cautious, but it doesn’t ignore AI. If Apple can incorporate generative AI into its tightly integrated ecosystem, it could redefine what AI means to consumers.
What is at stake here is more than bragging rights. The winner of the AI race may define the standards, tools and platforms for the next decade. Google’s strategy to scale Gemini into a universal assistant could be the key to Google’s success in the new year.
“I think 2025 will be critical,” Pichai said. “I think it’s really important that we internalize 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 unlocking the benefits of this technology and solve the real problems of the users”.
