Google faces growing competition from OpenAI while awaiting Washington’s antitrust decision on search business regulation.
The US ruling against Google’s search monopoly is seen as a win for regulators, yet AI tools like ChatGPT are reducing Google’s dominance.
“I think for Google right now, AI (is) a much bigger deal than the ruling. AI is fundamentally changing how the search product also works,” said Arvind Jain, a former Google engineer who worked on products including Search for a decade.
Jain, now leading Glean, noted AI’s impact was immediate, unlike the slow effects of rulings that take time to appeal.
Google, dominating 90% of the search market, earns around $175 billion annually through this business.
Even Apple, despite building most of its own hardware and software, uses Google as its default search engine for a fee.
Despite pending antitrust cases, Apple has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its upcoming devices, ending preferential fee treatment.
It highlighted the deal’s non-exclusive nature and suggested Google could join as an additional partner.
Analysts say a ruling against Google would accelerate Apple’s shift to AI search services if it ends the deal with Google.
Last month, Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched SearchGPT, an AI-driven search engine with real-time internet access.
Click here for more news on Technology.