Google and OpenAI Compete for AI Dominance, Coining New Opportunities Amid Apple’s Legal Battles

• Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google is set to roll out “AI Overview” as part of internet search results across the U.S. starting this week, in a bid to compete with startup OpenAI in artificial intelligence capabilities.
• The move comes amid ongoing licensing talks with Apple (AAPL) and has given Google stock a modest boost.
• AI Overview integrates Google’s “Gemini” generative AI model into search results, providing an AI generated summary at the top of the results page.

Google is enhancing its search capabilities with the rollout of AI Overview, a feature that integrates AI into search results, as it competes with OpenAI and negotiates licensing deals with Apple.

Google’s AI Overview Rollout

Google announced the release of AI Overview, formerly known as Search Generative Experience, at the Google I/O event on Tuesday. The feature is expected to be available to one billion users by the end of the year. Following a search query, AI Overview provides an AI-generated summary at the top of the results page, followed by more traditional webpage links, some of which are sponsored by advertisers.

Competition with OpenAI

OpenAI, a leader in generative AI, unveiled its own AI model, GPT-4o, on Monday. This improved model is much better at handling text, audio, and images in real-time. Meanwhile, there have been reports that Apple is in AI licensing talks with both Google and OpenAI. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, unveiled in November 2022, also provides answers to internet searches.

Apple Courtship

With both OpenAI and Google updating their AI capabilities, attention is now focused on Apple and its progress at the upcoming WWDC 2024, taking place from June 10 to June 14. Analysts believe that Google demonstrated its strong competitive position at the Google I/O event, driven by an essentially unlimited R&D budget.

Astra AI Assistant Unveiled

At the same event, Google demonstrated an early version of its universal AI assistant, Astra, which is a real-time multimodal AI assistant. Google has been testing the economics of AI Overview responses vs. computing costs associated with its traditional search engine.

Google Stock: Ad Impact Of AI Overview?

There are still questions about whether Google will be able to fully offset the elevated costs and potential ad revenue cannibalization of AI Overview with increased engagement and higher value ads. However, analysts believe that generative AI will ultimately give Google an expanded role in search.

Conclusion

Google’s rollout of AI Overview marks a significant step in its AI capabilities and its competition with OpenAI. With ongoing licensing talks with Apple and the unveiling of its Astra AI assistant, Google is positioning itself as a leader in the AI space. The impact on Google stock and ad revenue remains to be seen, but the potential for increased engagement and higher value ads is promising.