Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that 2025 will be a "crucial year" for the company as it faces increasing competition and regulatory barriers while catching up with the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
According to media reports, Pichai and other Google executives listed next year's priorities at the company's 2025 strategic meeting.
Pichai said, "I believe 2025 will be a crucial year. It is important for us to recognize the urgency of this moment, and as a company, we need to accelerate action. However, the risks of doing so are high. By 2025, we need to persistently focus on unleashing the benefits of this technology (artificial intelligence) and solving practical user problems
An increasingly crowded track
Although Google's search business still dominates, generative artificial intelligence provides people with various new ways to access online information, which has brought many new competitors to Google.
In July of this year, OpenAI announced that it would launch its own search engine; At the same time, Perplexity AI is also promoting its artificial intelligence search service and recently completed a $500 million funding round, with a valuation of approximately $9 billion.
Faced with enormous pressure from emerging artificial intelligence tools, Google quickly launched self-developed products in response. Google is investing heavily in an attempt to maintain its leading position, primarily through its artificial intelligence model Gemini. The Gemini application provides users with many tools.
Pichai recently stated that "establishing a massive new business" is of utmost importance. This includes Gemini applications. Executives have also expressed their belief that this is Google's next application to reach 500 million users (the company currently has 15 applications that meet this standard).
Pichai described the Gemini artificial intelligence model as having "strong momentum," while acknowledging that "we still have some work to do in 2025 to narrow the gap and establish leadership in this field
Pichai also added, "On the consumer side, expanding Gemini will be our biggest focus next year
The biggest regulatory challenge in history
In terms of regulation, the company has also experienced the greatest pressure since going public. The regulatory intensity today is stricter than ever before.
In August of this year, a federal judge ruled that Google illegally monopolized the search market. In November, the US Department of Justice demanded that Google divest its Chrome web browser division. This marks the most aggressive move taken by the US Department of Justice in attempting to spin off technology companies since the settlement of the Microsoft antitrust case in 2001.
In another case, the US Department of Justice accused the company of illegally dominating online advertising technology. The trial ended in September and is currently awaiting a judge's decision. In October 2024, a US judge issued a permanent injunction requiring Google to provide an alternative option to the Google Play Store for Android phones.
In September, the UK competition regulator also issued a statement opposing Google's advertising technology practices, which the regulator temporarily believes affect competition in the UK.
Regarding these numerous regulatory obstacles, Pichai said, "I am well aware that we are facing scrutiny from around the world, which is related to our scale and success. At the same time, it also reflects a broader trend that technology is impacting society on a large scale. Therefore, we need to ensure more than ever that we are not distracted