Google is considering charging for new “premium” features run by artificial intelligence (AI), the Financial Times (FT) reported, marking the first time it would put any of its core product behind a paywall.
The tech giant is mulling options such as adding AI search features to its premium subscription services, the FT reported, citing three unnamed people familiar with the plans.
Engineers are developing the technology to roll out the service, but executives have not decided whether or when to launch it, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
Google’s search engine would continue to be free and ads would appear alongside search results even to subscribers, it said.
“We’re continuing to rapidly improve the product to serve new user needs,” a Google spokesperson said. “We’re not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As we’ve done many times before, we’ll continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google.”
The potential move suggests that the Alphabet Inc unit still has not figured out how to incorporate the new, fast-growing technology without threatening its advertising business.
Ever since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, Google has found itself on the defensive in the face of the chatbot.
ChatGPT’s ability to give answers to queries in a narrative voice has forced Google to rethink its traditional list of blue links to Web sites and the ads that appear alongside them.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a new crop of search start-ups has emerged. Some have tried to persuade users to sign up for paid subscriptions to access generative AI search features, or for better privacy protections.
Last year, Google began testing its own AI-powered search service that combines the personalized, detailed narrative in addition to links to Web sites and advertising, but it has been slow to incorporate features from its experimental “search generative experience” to the main search engine.
In February, Google added a new paid tier to its consumer subscription service that gives people access to its latest AI model, Gemini.
People who pay for that subscription, called Google One AI Premium, are able to use its advanced Gemini chatbot and access the generative AI model in popular services such as Gmail and Google Docs.
In the wake of ChatGPT’s appearance, Google has reoriented its search teams to deploy more people to work on the experimental AI-powered experience, a former Google employee said.
While early feedback was positive, the high cost likely factored into the decision not to roll it out more widely, the person said.
South Korea’s equity benchmark yesterday crossed a new milestone just a month after surpassing the once-unthinkable 5,000 mark as surging global memory demand powers the country’s biggest chipmakers. The KOSPI advanced as much as 2.6 percent to a record 6,123, with Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc each gaining more than 2 percent. With the benchmark now up 45 percent this year, South Korea’s stock market capitalization has also moved past France’s, following last month’s overtaking of Germany’s. Long overlooked by foreign funds, despite being undervalued, South Korean stocks have now emerged as clear winners in the global market. The so-called “artificial intelligence
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
RSS