"We were surprised but..." Google CEO Sundar Pichai on generative AI boom

Sundar Pichai

ChatGPT arrived in November 2022 and since then generative AI has really seen exponential growth. Microsoft stole a march on the likes of Google by partnering with OpenAI and integrating ChatGPT in Windows and other apps and services. Google was caught on the backfoot and it is something which Sundar Pichai acknowledged.

Speaking at an event at Stanford University, Pichai said that he was taken by surprise at public interest in generative AI. According to a report by Business Insider, Pichai said that he did recognise that generative AI will be a game changer but had a “different sense of the trajectory in mind” at adoption and acceptance of AI.

ChatGPT’s popularity forced Google into immediate action. There were reports that Pichai had issued a “code red” internally for employees — something which he denied. In the last 18 months or so, Google has focused majorly on AI. First it launched Bard, generative AI chatbot but then later rebranded it to Gemini AI. The large language model’s various versions are being used by users as well as big organisations.

Gemini AI did end up in a ‘woke’ controversy in generating certain images. Google apologised for it and smoothened out the flaws.

Pichai, however, remains confident about Google’s play in AI. At the event, he said that it is still early days for generative AI and Google is geared up for it. “I feel incredibly well positioned for what is coming, and we are still in the very early days," he said at the event.

Google is hosting its annual developer conference later next month where it is expected to announce more AI features coming to its products, apps and services.

Also read: “This is a workplace and not…” Sundar Pichai’s strict message to Google employees