By Hugh Langley
Publication Date: 2025-11-23 12:10:00
It made for an irresistible narrative.
The large, slow incumbent — in this case, Google — was caught flat-footed by a more nimble upstart by the name of OpenAI. It was the type of story Silicon Valley built its legend on.
In Sundar Pichai’s first letter to shareholders in 2016 after becoming CEO, he said Google would shift to an “AI-first world.” Yet, in late 2022, a relatively unknown company suddenly pulled the rug from under Google’s feet. ChatGPT was an overnight sensation, and Google, which had long seen itself as the leader in AI, appeared to be lagging behind.
In the years since, the search giant has acted fast to turn things around. It quickly reshaped key parts of its business internally and made an aggressive push to inject generative AI into its core products.
Its latest AI model, Gemini 3, launched this month to dazzling reviews. Crucially, Gemini 3 launched within Search — Google’s most prized business — on day one, a strong signal…
