Pichai Opens Up on How ChatGPT Blindsided Google
Google's CEO and executives reveal how ChatGPT's launch caught them off guard and how they fought back with Gemini.
Sundar Pichai and senior Google executives sat down with Fast Company for a revealing series of interviews about the company's AI journey — including the uncomfortable part where ChatGPT's debut caught them flat-footed.
The conversations cover Google's scramble to respond, the development and rollout of Gemini, and Pichai's broader vision of embedding AI into essentially everything Google touches. The throughline: the company that arguably invented modern AI found itself playing catch-up, and now believes it's finally winning the deployment race.
Pichai is pushing hard on making "AI everywhere" not just a slogan but an actual business strategy. Google is betting that its massive infrastructure and product ecosystem give it an edge competitors can't easily replicate.
The irony isn't lost on anyone. Google pioneered the transformer architecture that powers today's AI boom — then watched OpenAI run with it first.