According to reports, Google is now concentrating on core products like its search engine and artificial intelligence (AI) divisions rather than “moonshot” ventures.
According to a transcript released by Bloomberg on Monday, May 27, Julia Love of Bloomberg informed Sarah Holder, host of the Big Take podcast, that this move coincides with decreasing funding and increased discussion about artificial intelligence.
According to the story, Google established its special projects-focused lab, known as X, in 2010 with the goal of hiring the brightest minds in the planet and pushing them to “dream big” on projects like the self-driving car firm Waymo.
However, the report stated that in recent years, its funding has decreased and that a stronger emphasis has been placed on each project having a business plan. This was particularly true once investors gained more insight into the company’s financial operations with the creation of Alphabet.
“I think the other real turning point was the launch of [OpenAI’s] ChatGPT, which really just became, you know, a five-alarm fire for Google and prompted the executives to really focus on the core business and artificial intelligence,” Love said in the report.
The article says that there was a perception among Google employees that the corporation was lagging behind in generative AI and that the technology might be applied to search, endangering Google’s primary line of business, search engine advertising.
The report says that the company’s X business is no longer as “top of mind” since it is now more concerned with search and AI.
According to the report, Meta has scaled back its hardware efforts and Apple has halted its autonomous car research. These changes coincide with other tech heavyweights making similar steps.
Love stated in the study, “I think you see big tech companies still innovating, but in a very focused way. It’s an interesting moment for innovation.”
CEO Sundar Pichai of Alphabet directed much of his attention toward artificial intelligence (AI) during the firm’s April earnings call. He outlined six key areas in which the company is improving its AI skills while incorporating AI into nearly all of its products and services.
Pichai stated, “We are well underway with our Gemini era and there’s great momentum across the company,” in reference to the company’s Gemini AI models.