Google is embarking on its most ambitious overhaul ever of its beloved search engine, adding a new "AI Mode" which dispenses with the traditional list of blue links to deliver a chatbot-like conversation driven by its Gemini artificial intelligence model, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Unveiled Tuesday at Google's developer conference, the revision permits US users to toggle into a chat-based interface on the search page, a core shift in the manner in which the company presents information—and how it plans to protect its hold in the face of increasing competition from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Apple.
“It’s a total reimagining of search with more advanced reasoning,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet. “We are now entering a new phase of the AI platform shift where decades of research are now becoming reality.”
AI is changing the way people search
Google's action is a reactive response to the disruption being caused by generative AI tools like ChatGPT that respond with natural language to questions and diminish the need to click through several web pages. The change has already taken a toll. Apple executive Eddy Cue recently attested that Google search traffic in the Safari browser had fallen for the first time in 20 years—a shot across the bow of Google's ad-based business model.
Alphabet stocks suffered an earlier setback this month when Cue testified that Apple will soon provide competing AI tools such as ChatGPT or Perplexity in its Safari browser. These updates have increased the pressure on Google to remain competitive in the AI race.
What AI Mode offers to Google Search
AI Mode, now available as a tab within the main Google Search interface, offers users a chatbot experience similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The feature is powered by Gemini, Google’s flagship AI model, which the company has been integrating across its product suite over the past year.
Google explains that the new user interface is able to support more sophisticated reasoning and context-dependent questions. The next set of features will involve letting users upload their own images and virtually try on outfits while buying, combining AI functionality with online shopping.
Google Vice President of Search product Robby Stein stated the company is also considering how to integrate ads into AI Mode. "We think of that as part of the content people actually want," he said.
Fierce competition and regulatory pressure
Though Google remains unrivalled in search worldwide—addressing as much as 90% of all internet searches—it finds its dominance challenged on several fronts. The firm is battling an antitrust decision in the United States that concluded it unlawfully sustained a monopoly for search. Considered remedies include requiring Google to spin off its Chrome web browser, potentially undermining the foundation of its dominance of the web ecosystem.
At the same time, Google is attempting to catch up with OpenAI, which launched its ChatGPT in 2022 and has rapidly become the breakout AI product. While Gemini picked up users in recent months, it still trails far behind ChatGPT in adoption. Google also lagged behind Microsoft, which spent billions on OpenAI and put its models into Bing and Office offerings.
To increase adoption, Pichai said Google is hoping to reach an agreement with Apple by midyear to make Gemini available through Siri, just like ChatGPT is now available as an option on Apple equipment.
A turning point for Google's future
The sentiment behind AI Mode's release is one of reflection for Google. Its search engine has been the company's cash cow, generating billions from advertising revenue. But if increasingly users go to AI chatbots with questions, Google's classic system might be made redundant.
With AI Mode, the company is trying to take command of the future of search—reshaping how billions get information, buy things online, and engage with the internet. Whether consumers will warm to this new mode only time will tell, but one thing is certain: the blue links era is making way for the conversational AI era.
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