Race for AI search

OpenAI a greater threat to Google than regulation

With its AI chatbot Gemini, Google has not yet been able to hold its own against OpenAI's ChatGPT.

(Bild: Google)

Google is facing a potentially existential crisis. The possible break-up of the Californian internet company is not even the biggest threat. That comes from AI developer OpenAI, which could quickly put an end to Google's dominance in online searches with "SearchGPT".

Last week, the US company suffered a defeat in the "trial of the decade". A court ruled that the Silicon Valley company had an illegal monopoly, which it was defending with payments worth billions to technology companies. In return, these companies install Google as the default search engine on their devices or in their Internet browsers, allowing Google to secure the lion's share of global online advertising expenditure.

The fate of the search engine operator is now to be negotiated in further proceedings, with the break-up of the group also considered an option.

However, the days of such exclusive agreements already appear to be numbered. The US iPhone provider Apple, for example, which has so far received tens of billions annually from Google, is partly using ChatGPT from OpenAI as part of its AI offensive and has signaled a possible additional integration of Google's AI "Gemini". According to analysts, the antitrust proceedings against Google could accelerate Apple's move towards alternative AI-powered search engines.

One of these could be "SearchGPT", with which OpenAI is launching an attack on the previous industry leader. This AI reportedly provides summaries of search results and associated links. Users can then ask follow-up questions. A number of start-ups are now also offering AI internet searches.

"The biggest threat to Google could be Google itself"
Google is also working on an improved search based on "Gemini", but so far with moderate success. "The biggest threat to Google could be Google itself," warns Rebecca Wettemann, head of the research company Valoir. The company, which according to estimates currently handles around 90 percent of all Internet search queries, has lost a lot of trust with technical blunders. "Google's engineers have focused more on quick releases than on proper implementation while trying to keep up with the pace of OpenAI and others."

Some time ago, Google introduced "Overviews", in which an answer generated by the AI was displayed above the classic search results. After harsh criticism due to factual errors in these texts, "Overviews" was scaled back again. The "Gemini" predecessor "Bard" had already made headlines with various errors.

Analyst Gil Luria from research firm D.A. Davidson sees a link between the threat posed by AI and the tougher approach taken by the authorities. "One reason for the current action by the US Department of Justice is the movement that has come into the market. It wants to ensure that Google does not further expand its market dominance."

Door opener for competitors
Although the proceedings have had little impact on Google so far, they could open a door for competitors, says Richard Socher, who operates his own AI-supported search engine, You.com. However, it is still too early for a swan song for the company, which has become synonymous with the verb "google" for searching on the Internet. So far, no one has been able to wrest major market shares from the group. It remains to be seen whether this will change soon.