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In front of a live audience, Google unveiled what Pichai called a “fully revamped, new search experience” that will roll out to all US users this week, with the new Gemini-powered search coming to other countries “soon.” Shortly after its founding in 1998, Google surpassed Yahoo! to become the clear global favorite search engine, a result of its algorithm, which was faster and more accurate than anything else at the time. Its dominance has been so unshakeable that it’s the subject of a federal antitrust lawsuit.
If last year Google showed a willingness to experiment with generative AI features in its main products and services, this is the year the company is diving right in, with fundamental and noticeable changes in its iconic platform. But Google must also take care not to rock the boat too much. People may click on fewer ads if the AI overviews fully address their questions. The ecosystem of news sites and other websites that rely on the search giant for traffic may also see fewer visitors because of Google’s changes. Reid tried to project an air of calm for advertisers and publishers.
In a call with reporters on Monday, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google’s AI lab DeepMind, went even further in showcasing Gemini’s ability to respond to queries. Hassabis showed off Project Astra, a prototype of an AI assistant that can process video and respond in real time. In a prerecorded video demo, an employee walked through an office as the assistant used the phone’s camera to “see,” responding to questions about what was in the scene.
On Tuesday, Google confirmed that developers can use Gemini 1.5 Pro to process more text, video and audio at a time — up to 2 million “tokens,” or pieces of content. That amounts to about 2 hours of video, 22 hours of audio or over 1.4 million words. Google says this amount of processing far outpaces other AI models from competitors, including OpenAI.