How Did Google Slip? Sundar Pichai On Losing The AI Lead To OpenAI's ChatGPT
Sundar Pichai said OpenAI deserved credit for launching ChatGPT first, adding that it “shifted the window” for AI and changed how Google saw the technology.
When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, it was widely seen as a challenge to Google’s long-standing dominance in artificial intelligence. Reflecting on that moment, Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that OpenAI deserved credit for getting its chatbot out first.
Speaking at Salesforce’s annual technology conference, Dreamforce, Pichai discussed what it was like to watch the AI landscape shift so dramatically. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who moderated the conversation, described Google as the “absolute leader in AI” at the time and asked Pichai how it felt when “this little company in San Francisco called OpenAI emerges with this product ChatGPT.”
“But you’re right, credit to OpenAI, they put it out first,” Pichai said, according to Business Insider.
The launch of ChatGPT, backed by Microsoft, triggered a “code red” within Google, as reported by The New York Times. Pichai redirected several internal teams to accelerate AI development efforts. But he maintained that Google had already been making major strides in artificial intelligence, including working on its own chatbot and developing the chips and infrastructure to support large-scale AI research.
“We knew in a different world, we would’ve probably launched our chatbot maybe a few months down the line,” he said, as quoted by Business Insider.
Pichai explained that Google’s chatbot wasn’t ready for public release then, as it still faced several issues that needed fixing before meeting the company’s standards.
Pichai compared the “ChatGPT moment” to other disruptions he had seen in the tech space. He recalled when Google was building video search in 2006 and YouTube “came out of nowhere,” or when Facebook’s photo-sharing boom gave way to Instagram, platforms that both companies later acquired.
“For me, when ChatGPT launched, contrary to what people outside felt, I was excited because I knew the window had shifted,” Pichai said.
While OpenAI’s release marked a defining moment in AI, Google was cautious about immediately launching a competing product, citing greater “reputational risk” compared to OpenAI.
In March 2023, Google introduced its own chatbot, initially named Bard and later rebranded as Gemini — its answer to ChatGPT and a key part of its evolving AI strategy.
