Sundar Pichai on AI, the future of search, and what’s happening to the web

In this annual interview, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai addresses the company's aggressive pivot toward an "AI-first" strategy following the rise of competitors like OpenAI. Pichai explains the structural shifts at Google, such as the creation of Google DeepMind, designed to consolidate research and infrastructure to speed up product development. A central theme of the discussion is the evolution of Google Search into an "agentic" experience, where AI provides personalized, task-oriented answers rather than simple link lists. While acknowledging industry concerns regarding "Google Zero"—the declining referral traffic to publishers—Pichai maintains that the web remains a vibrant ecosystem. Furthermore, he discusses the rapid pace of AI development, suggesting that the industry is approaching AGI, and emphasizes that society must prepare for these profound technological changes regardless of specific timelines.

(Source：The Verge)