Google CEO Defends AI and Explains Where Company Is Headed Next

Google’s AI Roadmap Is Bigger Than the Internet Boom

At Bloomberg’s Tech Summit in San Francisco, Google CEO Sundar Pichai laid out a confident, long-view strategy for the company’s AI ambitions.

With $75 billion in capital expenditures planned for 2025, much of it tied to AI infrastructure, Pichai is proving that Google is building the roads, power plants, and pipelines for generative AI. And at the center of that buildout is Gemini, Google’s rapidly advancing AI platform.

Pichai called the AI opportunity “bigger than the opportunity we had in the past,” a reference likely aimed at the early internet and mobile eras, both of which Google managed to dominate. This time, the company is in better position to shape how AI technologies will assist people. From content discovery to cloud computing to consumer subscriptions, AI is the future operating system.

AI and the New Definition of “Quality Content”

In the interview, Pichai admitted that AI-generated content is flooding the internet and much of it isn’t worth reading. Google’s answer is Gemini. The platform is being used to surface better material and push low-quality content out of view.

What counts as “quality” is now defined by Google. It’s no longer just about links or authority. Gemini is analyzing, summarizing, and influencing what users see before they even reach a site. That includes AI overviews in search, which Google claims are driving higher engagement and better clicks.

As we covered in this post, many publishers and law firms have seen the opposite. Google’s tools are deciding what’s trustworthy and what gets ignored. If your content doesn’t fit the model Gemini rewards, it gets buried.

For law firms, the takeaway is simple. Make sure your content strategy addresses Google’s new quality guidelines.

Search Volume is Increasing With Added AI Features

Pichai rejected the idea that AI chat tools are replacing Google Search. He said query volume is still increasing and emphasized that search and AI responses can grow side by side. Google is focused on owning both experiences.

Search isn’t disappearing, but it no longer functions the way it did five years ago. Results now include more summaries, AI-generated overviews, and fewer clear paths to websites. Users often get what they need without clicking through. Google still delivers information, but it now decides what is most relevant before users even make a decision.

This change directly affects law firms. Gemini plays a larger role in search engine results and what gets filtered out. Search remains a major traffic source, but the rules of engagement have evolved.

Gemini’s Importance Outside of Search

Google’s CEO pointed to Gemini’s influence outside of search and how it is becoming a central part of Google’s entire product stack. Gemini is shaping how users discover, consume, and trust content across multiple platforms, including YouTube. That includes how they engage with brands and services, legal or otherwise. When an AI system controls not only what gets seen but how it is presented, traditional SEO signals start to carry less weight.

Gemini is curating the content journey from start to finish. If your firm’s content doesn’t work within that framework, it will struggle to reach the people searching for it.

Content Control and Click Ownership

Pichai also defended AI overviews in search, stating that users are clicking through to a wider variety of sites and spending more time on each visit. Google presents this as an indicator that AI is improving the user experience and helping publishers.

That depends on what shows up in search. When Google summarizes content directly in the results and chooses which links to feature, it controls much more of the user’s decision process.

As Gemini continues to shape what appears in search and how users engage with it, ownership of the full click path belongs less to publishers and more to the platform.

Google Is Writing the Future

Pichai’s message is that Google is not slowing down. It’s expanding search, growing AI, and building the infrastructure to control how information is found, trusted, and used. The company is confident in its direction, and it’s designing tools that give it more influence over what users see and why.

TSEG understands how this affects law firms because we monitor these changes in real time. We build marketing strategies that align with how Google is operating now, not how it used to. It may be time to rethink what your content needs to compete. Let us help by contacting TSEG today.