For the past two decades, Google has been the household name for everything about the internet and it has been among the top authorities when it comes to search engines, and while the company made significant changes to it lately, it is set to get a revamp again this 2025. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently addressed the crowd during the BYT DealBook Summit where he introduced upcoming changes to the search engine.
It is also here where Pichai threw jabs at its Big Tech competitor, Microsoft, for heavily relying on its partnership with OpenAI, saying that the company did not develop any of its AI features and challenged the software company to a side-by-side AI comparison.
Google Search Engine Is Getting a Revamp in 2025 Says CEO
This year saw Google's massive work on developments for its search engine, with the company introducing massive AI features for the experience that allow users to enjoy a better experience when browsing the web. One of the top features available from Google's Search is the AI overview which initially launched with significant issues including sharing fake results, but the company pulled out the feature to fix the hallucination before bringing it back.
Another feature that came to the search engine was with the AI upgrade to Google Lens which allowed users to use video input to upload to the technology, and then search the web with the same result or related. Previously, Google Lens only allowed photo input for the feature to analyze and cross-match with results from the web, but thanks to Gemini's multimodal capabilities, Google was able to support video.
Google's Sundar Pichai claimed that even in early 2025, the company has a lot in store for users regarding their search engine's new upgrades, teasing that it will be more advanced compared to its current iteration now (via The Verge). However, Pichai did not dive into specifics regarding Search's upgrade for users, but it will likely be connected to generative AI once again, similar to what it offered this year.
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More AI Features Coming, Created and Developed by Google
The so-called "Search Generative Experience" (SGE) which Google introduced in its previous I/O 2024 event made significant promises that its search engine would receive massive upgrades that will make it stand out among the competition. The biggest feature drop for this year was AI Overviews which allowed users to get a gist that may answer their questions or search on the platform alongside links to the said AI-generated content.
Google's teaser also centers on its self-made and developed technology, and this is a direct jab to Microsoft which Pichai also criticized because they are using "someone else's" models, pertaining to their partnership with OpenAI. Since Google introduced the AI features on its platform, the company developed and used only what it owns, including its work with the subsidiary, DeepMind, encompassing the many applications for AI.
Google's AI Developments vs. Microsoft and OpenAI
Google's jab at Microsoft is a massive flex for the Mountain View giant as it has been thriving in the AI industry with its developments, especially with its latest, the Gemini AI, which was among the earliest to advance AI with multimodal capabilities. Now, Gemini 2.0 is here to deliver a more powerful approach to artificial intelligence, and it is now featuring "agents" which is their stepping stone to delivering a "universal assistant" for all.
