Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, believes that Google has fallen behind in the AI arms race due to shifting its focus away from being an AI-first company. When Google reorganized under its parent company, Alphabet, in 2015, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped back from leadership, and Sundar Pichai took over as CEO. Under this new structure and leadership, Buchheit argues Google prioritized preserving its search monopoly over continuing innovation in AI. There is an inherent tension for a search company between providing the best answers through AI and maximizing profitability through ads, according to Buchheit.
