Google’s 15th I/O developer conference will kick off in Mountain View, California. But this time around, the pressure is on Google as the search giant suddenly finds itself struggling to play catch-up in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) it has long dominated.
Right now, the hype surrounding new breakthroughs in AI technology has Google on the defensive. Google has been forced to try to regain the initiative after established rivals Microsoft and upstarts like OpenAI put new “generative” AI tools directly into the hands of customers. The conference is an opportunity for Google executives to prove to skeptical investors, competitors and their own employees that Google is still a leader in AI.
Googlers are stressed right now. The preparations for the conference heightened tensions after Google’s boss ordered employees in December to double down on AI after OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT took off across the globe. Expectations for Google to host a blockbuster AI event have been tempered by Google’s cost-cutting efforts. In January, Google laid off 12,000 workers and cut some notorious benefits.
The scale of this conference is much smaller than in previous years. What used to be a three-day developer conference covering a large swath of Google’s Mountain View, Calif., campus has been shortened to just one day. Five current and former employees say this is the most stressful time they can remember working at Google. “It’s a different era at Google,” says one current employee. “There’s a lot of pressure now.”
Demonstrating the new technology to customers, the media and investors is key for Google, which, according to analysts and industry watchers, botched a March launch of its “Bard” chatbot. Prior to this, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, and Microsoft also integrated ChatGPT in Bing. “Microsoft and OpenAI are now everyone else playing catch up,” said Macquarie Group analyst Fred Havemeyer. “Google is playing catch up.”
“This is a vulnerable moment for Google in the AI arms race,” said Dan Ives, an equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Time is ticking, and it’s time for Google to restart the AI engine.”
