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.
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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.
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