Google, the sleeping giant in global AI race, now ‘fully awake’

Core Insights - Google has made significant advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly with the launch of its new model, Gemini 3, which has garnered praise for its reasoning and coding capabilities, positioning the company competitively against OpenAI and others in the AI landscape [2][14][19] Company Developments - Google has entered into strategic partnerships, including a chip collaboration with Anthropic PBC, which has bolstered investor confidence in its AI capabilities [2][3] - The company's cloud business is experiencing steady growth, driven by the increasing demand for AI services and computing power [2][16] - Alphabet Inc.'s market capitalization has surged, with shares rising significantly, indicating strong investor sentiment towards Google's AI initiatives [4][3] Competitive Landscape - Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly in discussions to utilize Google's specialized AI chips, which has positively impacted Alphabet's stock performance [3][9] - Google's AI chips, known as tensor processing units (TPUs), are emerging as a viable alternative to Nvidia's products, with significant deals being made to supply these chips [8][17] - The competitive pressure on Nvidia has increased, as evidenced by a notable drop in its stock value following news of Google's advancements [4][11] Market Positioning - Google is recognized for its comprehensive approach to AI, producing not only applications but also the underlying software, cloud infrastructure, and hardware, giving it a unique advantage in the market [7][12] - Despite its strengths, Google's cloud revenue of $15.2 billion in Q3 remains behind competitors like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, indicating room for growth in enterprise AI adoption [16] User Engagement - Google reported that its Gemini app has 650 million users, although it still trails behind OpenAI's ChatGPT, which has 800 million weekly users [15][16] - The Gemini app has seen 73 million monthly downloads, which is lower than ChatGPT's 93 million, highlighting the competitive challenge in consumer engagement [15] Future Outlook - Analysts suggest that Google's recent developments signal a resurgence in its competitive stance within the AI sector, with the company being described as a "sleeping giant" that is now fully engaged in the race [5][19] - The consolidation of AI efforts under Demis Hassabis at DeepMind is expected to enhance Google's focus on foundational models, aligning its strategies with leading competitors [12][13]