| Mmm I don't think I agree with this person's analysis, despite him being a ex-googler. Don't get me wrong - i'm also not a big fan of company's hamfisting "ai" into every product that they have. But in Google's case it might be a do-or-die situation. --- Basically, AI tech's current value proposition is simple - information retrieval. What does Google happen to do? Information retrieval. --- Google absolutely should be scared if they aren't already. The phrase "Just ask ChatGPT" has already entered the common parlance, in much the same way "Just Google It" did in the 2000s. Zoom killed Skype in much the same way. In 10 years, gen-alphas could be using ChatGPT exclusively for performing their information gathering.
In 20 years, Google's search revenue (55% of their revenue) might be hit sufficiently that they have to pivot something else.
In 30 years, more time than it took Yahoo to become completely irrelevant as a company (founded 30 years ago!), Google may be just as irrelevant then. Google is already giving up the meta-physical space to Facebook and Apple. They've already given up the services space to Apple. They hardly even build their own hardware anymore, so all that's all going to Apple and Samsung. If the balance of power shifts, Google might just lose Android to Samsung completely. Now they might just lose the information-retrieval space too, which is their core identity. What do they have left after? YouTube, Business, and Infra, and Play Store. None of which actually makes them much money at all. They absolutely need to put their AI thing in as many things as possible, and try to leapfrog the competition. But at this point I think they may have already lost in the current consumer headspace. My casual 2cents |