Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates predicted that Google’s search engine profits would decline in the future since the business he cofounded has been able to advance artificial intelligence quickly.
Gates stated that Google has owned all of the search profits, so the search profits will be down, and their share of it may be down because Microsoft has been able to move fairly quickly on that one.
For comparison, Microsoft reported advertising revenues of $18 billion in 2022, compared to Google’s $224 billion.
Gates had previously stated that AI is “every bit as significant as the PC, as the internet” earlier in February. He acknowledged on the show that he was astonished by the recent acceleration in AI research but predicted that it will be the “largest thing in this decade.”
Two weeks prior to his remarks, Microsoft unveiled a version of its Bing search engine that uses artificial intelligence (AI), positioning it as a rival to Google’s dominance in the search market.
According to web analytics site, Google controls around 93% of the global search-engine industry, while Bing holds roughly 3% of the market. Google has dominated search for the previous two decades.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, also debuted an AI tool called Bard at the same time as Microsoft announced Bing. Users can test out the new Bing and Bard.
Gates stated on the podcast that he was “not sure” if the race for artificial intelligence will have a winner, but at least one well-known analyst, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, claimed Microsoft is currently “leading the pack” in this field.
A “personal agent” that comprehends user needs and preferences is what Gates eventually sees as a result of AI integration into search engines. This would eliminate the need for separate services from various tech firms, such as those currently provided by Google for search, Amazon for shopping, Microsoft for productivity tools, and Apple for devices.
The AI will know you so well that it won’t matter if Amazon has the best price or if someone else has a better price when you’re buying gifts or planning trips — you won’t even need to think about it, Gates predicted on the podcast. We won’t view those businesses as separate in ten years, according to Gates. So, there could be a significant change in the structure of the IT markets.
