Bloomberg's Emily Chang interviewed Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, last night at the Bloomberg Tech summit in San Francisco. The interview covered a ton of topics and was pretty fast-paced. It goes across AI, search, the monopoly case and more.
The questions and answers were pretty similar to the The Verge interview for a week or so ago. Nothing really stood out to me as different from that, but it is worth listening to in the background as you work.
Here is the video:
Thanks for having me! Great to chat, as always.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) June 5, 2025
I will say, he kept emphasizing that Google Search can continue to grow, at least in the near term, while AI and its AI competitors grow. He also spoke about AI and content growth, and how Google can weed out the low-quality content.
Here is a summary Gemini put together of the interview (I am using AI to summarize it for you, which I never do)- I did watch the whole interview last night as it was broadcast live and this summary does align properly:
Confidence in AI & Investment:
- Google is highly confident in its AI progress, especially with Gemini.
- The company is "definitely investing for the long run" in AI, with a $75 billion CapEx planned for 2025.
- Pichai believes the AI opportunity is "bigger than the opportunity we had in the past."
Revenue Streams:
- Highlighted growth in cloud services, with Vertex AI usage up 40x in the last 12 months.
- Subscription services like Google AI Pro and Ultra are "doing well."
Future of Search:
- Despite the rise of chatbots, search is "very far from a zero sum game" and Google's query volume continues to grow.
- Emphasized that people empirically value and use Google search more.
AI and Content:
- Acknowledged the "cat and mouse game" with AI-generated content and the rise of low-quality content.
- Google is using Gemini to improve YouTube's recommendations and elevate high-quality content.
- Believe Google is well-equipped to "separate, finding the needle in the haystack."
Open Web and AI Overviews:
- Indexed web pages are up 45% in the last two years, indicating continued web growth.
- Defended AI overviews in search, stating they prioritize approaches that lead to "high quality traffic" to publishers.
- Users are clicking to a "more diverse set of websites" and spending more time per click with overviews.
AI's Impact on Employment:
- Concerns about job displacement should be taken seriously.
- AI will create "new opportunities" and make engineers "dramatically more productive."
- Cautioned against overly specific job loss predictions, citing historical trends.
Monopoly Concerns:
- Disagrees with court rulings regarding Google's monopoly status.
- Stressed user choice and competition in the market.
- Highlighted long-term R&D investments (e.g., Waymo, quantum computing).
New Technologies (AR Glasses):
- Focused on building "delightful" AR experiences that offer practical utility.
Truth and Deepfakes:
- Google is developing tools like watermarking for videos and authenticity detectors for images to combat deepfakes.
- Believes society will value a "shared sense of reality" and human experiences more.
Leadership and Google's Future:
- Pichai's leadership has focused on accelerating Google's AI efforts (e.g., Google DeepMind, increased CapEx).
- Emphasized the importance of building an innovative culture that takes a long-term view.
- Envisions Google at 50 as "nimble and innovating," with a culture that earns success every year.
- Believes future Google leaders will have "an extraordinary AI companion."
Forum discussion at X.
