Google considers charging for AI powered search

According to the latest report from the Financial Times, Google is considering the possibility of implementing fees for certain features that are classified as “premium,”including those that utilize generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) like its Gemini AI assistant. This would primarily affect its search engine and would mark the first instance of the company implementing a paywall for its key offerings.

In February 2024, Google’s Gemini AI (formerly known as Bard) was made accessible to users and has since been incorporated into Gmail and Docs. However, if Google were to start charging for the use of this AI in their search engine, it would mark a notable change in their policy of offering free products and not requiring payment for additional features. In response to these reports, Google released the following statement:

“For years, we’ve been reinventing Search to help people access information in the way that’s most natural to them…””With our generative AI experiments in Search, we’ve already served billions of queries, and we’re seeing positive Search query growth in all of our major markets. We’re continuing to rapidly improve the product to serve new user needs.”

At present, Google engineers are developing the necessary technology for the potential launch of this service. However, the decision to launch the product lies with the executives. In the meantime, Microsoft remains dedicated to advancing its AI tools in Copilot, as evidenced by their recent shift in focus from Teams to Copilot. This suggests that leading technology companies view Copilot as the most promising avenue for growth.

According to the report, Google’s justification for implementing a fee for AI-powered search is that the process of displaying snapshots of results, similar to those used in Bing Chat, requires a significant amount of computing resources compared to the traditional list of blue links that we are accustomed to. As a result, Google may be aiming to recover some of those expenses in order to sustain its primary source of income, which was reported as $175 billion in revenue last year.

Google has verified that it currently has no announcements to make regarding its presence in the generative AI-powered search market.

The article was published by the Financial Times.