Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai participated in a virtual discussion with His Excellency Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, during the World Government Summit, which brings together heads of state and CEOs from around the world, including private sector leaders.
Sundar spoke about the company’s AI-first approach and its more than decade of investments in AI, particularly core technologies like quantum computing and Waymo.
Google is building apps that make AI truly useful to people around the world, noting that seven products reach more than 2 billion users—such as Google Maps, Google Search, Android powered by Google AI, and the latest Gemini models.
Highlights from the session:
- “AI technologies will become widely available and accessible to everyone, which will have a significant impact on the entire world.”
- Quantum computing has been making great progress recently, and in the next five to ten years, quantum computers of tangible practical use will be available.
- “We are working to provide information to people around the world, and we will continue to achieve strong growth in search.”
- “In order to succeed in this technology field, the company’s founders had a very ambitious vision, and it is essential to continue to instill a culture of optimism and curiosity in the company.”
- “In 2015, when I was appointed CEO, we stated that the company would be AI-first, and we decided to take an integrated approach to this area. We started building our own Tensor Processors in 2017. When you bet on long-term technologies like Waymo and quantum computing, you know and believe that they will eventually succeed. From the outset, you have to take a long-term view without hesitation. At the application level, it’s natural to see successes, while other attempts may not. The challenge is knowing when to keep pushing forward and when to realize that the approach needs to be adjusted. We may not succeed on the first try, but the continuous learning process is essential. It’s what keeps the company fresh and drives it to constantly innovate.”
- “I currently devote a significant portion of my time to artificial intelligence. The speed of progress and the extent of the impact of this technology are astonishing, and we have rarely seen development occur at such a rapid pace.”