You'll soon be able to chat with Google Search, CEO Sundar Pichai confirms

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai recently talked about plans to add conversational AI features to its flagship search engine, in an interview with the WSJ. The move is designed to take advantage of advances in AI, which could supercharge Google's ability to answer an array of search queries. Pichai dismissed the idea that chatbots posed a threat to Google's search business, which accounts for more than half of the revenue at parent Alphabet. However, the CEO acknowledged the huge opportunity space opened up by conversational AI, saying that users would be able to engage with large language models (LLMs) directly in the context of search.

“Will people be able to ask questions to Google and engage with LLMs in the context of search? Absolutely,” Pichai said in the WSJ interview.

The AI race in search is heating up, with Microsoft's Bing already using the technology behind the ChatGPT system, which allows users to engage in extended conversations with the product. Last November, Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI released the system, sparking a race to integrate the technology into consumer products. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been vocal in his attempts to take on Google's dominant search engine, saying that "a new race is starting with a completely new platform technology." Microsoft is also pushing AI beyond Bing, offering it for use in some of its business software tools.

Search ads remain Google's biggest money-maker, bringing in $162bn of revenue last year. Despite some caution over the technology, Google has pushed forward with its AI efforts, even in the face of cost cuts. 

Researchers have raised concerns about the accuracy of AI-powered chatbots, but Pichai remains committed to improving the technology. He said Google needs to adapt its use of resources to continue its work in AI while also managing costs. Google Brain and DeepMind—the company’s two main AI units—will work together more closely on efforts to build large algorithms.

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