Google Gemini is racing to win the AI crown in 2025
Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged at the company’s year-end strategy meeting that the AI models powering Google Gemini are behind OpenAI and ChatGPT, but promised a real push in 2025 to help Gemini surpass its rivals, as reported by CNBC.
Pichai’s directive comes across as more serious than the usual corporate rah-rah; it’s a declaration that Google will no longer lose ground in the race it once led. Google’s virtually bottomless coffers and massive infrastructure give it a good chance of rising to the top within 12 months, but only because the company is no longer resting on the laurels it has been building since the early 2000s.
“In history, you don’t always have to be the first, but you have to perform well and really be the best in its class as a product,” Pichai said during the meeting. “I think that’s what 2025 is all about.”
Pichai’s rallying cry clearly underlines the pressure the company is under. Gemini, touted as Google’s big AI hope, has yet to live up to its hype. While ChatGPT has become synonymous with generative AI, Google’s Gemini still feels like the dirty understudy. Of course, Pichai claims that Gemini 1.5 surpasses the GPT in terms of technical capabilities, but let’s be honest: perception matters.
If the average user associates “AI” with ChatGPT instead of Google, the company’s dominance is at risk. Pichai’s point that “you don’t always have to be first” is true, but Google’s slow start leaves it vulnerable to losing its reputation as a pioneer.
Meta, meanwhile, is spending mountains of money on AI, with the Meta AI Assistant arriving on its platforms and on new hardware like the AI-enhanced Ray-Ban smart glasses and the Orion headset. Meta’s AI investments are impressive, but its sprawling empire could actually limit the coherence of its strategy versus Google’s plans for Gemini.
If Google had gotten off to a slower start, Apple would have still been in bed when the starting gun sounded. Still, Tim Cook and company have taken some big steps to integrate AI into their products. Apple developed AI internally and worked with AI developers, including OpenAI, while maintaining the unique Apple user experience for Siri and other services. Apple’s strategy may seem overly cautious, but it doesn’t ignore AI. If Apple can integrate generative AI into its tightly integrated ecosystem, it could redefine what AI means to consumers.
What’s at stake here is more than bragging rights. The winner of the AI race gets to define the standards, tools and platforms for the next decade. Google’s strategy to scale Gemini into a universal assistant could be key to Google’s success in the new year.
“I think 2025 will be crucial,” Pichai said. “I think it is very important that we internalize the urgency of this moment and that we need to act faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments. In 2025, we must relentlessly focus on unlocking the benefits of this technology and solving real user problems.”