Google to Revamp Search With Generative AI Tools, But Gradually
Approach insulates Google from ethical concerns while buying time to assess the impact on search advertising
For months, Google has been under pressure to reinvent its core search business and respond to the rise of artificial intelligence programs that can generate content. On Wednesday, Google started introducing more to the public — slowly.
At its annual developer conference, Google unveiled a version of its search engine that uses large language models, AI tools that are trained on enormous volumes of text to answer users’ queries conversationally. The update will exist only in a new, experimental space dubbed “Search Labs,” which users who sign up for a wait list will be able to access. Certain features may eventually graduate to the main search engine; others will be scrapped entirely.
“They want to be in the generative AI game, and they have to be in the generative AI game,” said Evelyn Mitchell, an analyst with Insider Intelligence. “There are new competitive dynamics emerging around AI, and they have to address it, whereas before maybe it wasn’t so important.”