Alphabet, the parent company of Google that pioneered self-driving cars and quantum computing, is placing its biggest bet much closer to home: online search.
Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chairman and chief investment officer, said at the Reuters Next conference in New York on Tuesday that applying artificial intelligence to the search business that has made Google a household name is the biggest bet the company has made.
“We are meeting people where they want to be going forward,” Porat said in an interview with Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni.
Alphabet, which earns more than $300 billion (roughly Rs. 25,45,814 crores) in its annual revenue from search-related advertising, in one example of its efforts injected AI-generated overviews into questions with no clear answers. Have done.
The move comes after competition from ChatGept-maker OpenAI and requires Google to navigate tricky terrain, with AI sometimes creating information that has been described as “hallucinations.”
Search will continue to evolve, said Porat, who was previously Google and Alphabet’s longest-serving chief financial officer. Google Cloud is another major investment, he said.
Having been diagnosed with breast cancer twice, Porat also pointed to the myriad efforts Alphabet has made to improve health care.
He cited the introduction of “AlphaFold,” an AI system that predicts protein folds that the company is applying to drug discovery through its Isomorphic Labs division. He said AI could protect the eyesight of people who are at risk of losing it and free medical professionals from their screens so they can focus on care.
He cited his doctor’s hopes, “It might restore humanity in the doctor-patient relationship.”
Asked whether the cost of Alphabet’s investment in AI would keep up with skyrocketing industry trends, Porat said the technology represents a “generational opportunity.” Analysts have said the company is on track to spend $50 billion on chips, data centers and other capital expenses in 2024. But Alphabet will bet on the results.
“We need to generate returns,” he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
