Key Points
Pichai States Will Continue Hiring Engineers Until 2026
AGI Not Coming Soon, Current AI Still Makes Basic Errors
Addressing Media Traffic Anxiety, Pichai Emphasizes AI Search Will Help Traffic
AI Helps Improve Efficiency, Not a Layoff Machine
Facing the layoff wave in Silicon Valley, Pichai is undaunted and instead states:
"I expect we will continue to expand our engineering team before 2026, because AI can help them do more."
He emphasizes that AI's emergence is to enhance efficiency, helping engineers delegate complex and trivial tasks to machines so they can focus on more valuable tasks.
Pichai's comments contrast with recent actions of companies like Microsoft, which have been downsizing teams and resources to focus on large AI models, and also alleviates external anxiety about "AI stealing jobs".
Far from AGI, Current AI Still Makes Low-Level Errors
Pichai candidly admits that while AI performs well in tasks like coding, it still frequently makes mistakes that even humans wouldn't make. He says with reservation:
"Are we really on the path to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)? I don't think anyone would dare to guarantee that."
Even though Google is one of the global AI leaders, they are very clear that AI fully replacing humans is still a long way off.
AI Search Won't Affect Website Traffic, Pichai: This is Help
Recently, many websites and publishers have criticized Google's AI Overview feature, arguing that users get answers directly on the search page without clicking into news sites, causing traffic to decline.
Pichai responds:
"We spent a long time testing this feature to ensure users see high-quality links and click through."
He emphasizes that Google's product goal has always been to help users search and drive traffic, and promises to continue prioritizing website ecosystem and content source sustainability.
Google Accused of Monopoly, Pichai Clarifies: Doing Long-Term Technical Integration
Pichai candidly disagrees with the court's monopoly ruling and is currently appealing. He believes users now have more choices than ever, and Google is chosen because its products are good.
Regarding whether he will break up the company, he responds:
"We've invested decades of technology in areas like quantum computing, Waymo, Chrome - such long-term innovation requires integration to be effective."
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