The Chatbots Are Coming for Google

ChatGPT and acrop of startups run by Google alumni reimagine search for the AI era

- Julia Love

In its early weeks, ChatGPT, the wildly popular artificial intelligence tool from OpenAI, has offered up a potential new model for online search. The chatbot responds to questions about topics such as political science and computer programming with detailed explanations, and its question-and-answer format means users can drill down until they fully understand. Users doing similar research on Google must typically scan search results and peruse various websites until they arrive at their own conclusions. ChatGPT, by contrast, delivers a decisive (or at least decisive-sounding) answer in seconds.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google has been essentially untouchable in search, but a handful of companies, some founded by former Googlers, think that's about to change. The entrepreneurs say a shift is under way from the prevailing model of keyword search, in which search engines comb the web for specific terms, to searches powered by large language models, which analyze enormous text databases to develop the ability to understand user questions and produce direct answers. This is the technology that ChatGPT uses to compose its rapid-fire responses.

Some of the technological breakthroughs underpinning large language models were forged in Google's own research labs. But entrepreneurs who have left in recent years say the company may struggle to fully capitalize on the technology's potential, in large part because its business model, in which ads are displayed alongside search results, is too lucrative to disrupt. Google raked in $54.48 billion in advertising revenue in the most recent quarter, representing 78.9% of its gross sales. Search ads were the biggest driver by far.