Google CEO Pichai tells employees “The pay is high” for 2025

CEO of Google Sundar Pichai told employees last week that “the stakes are high” for 2025 as the company faces increased competition and regulatory hurdles and grapples with rapid advances in artificial intelligence.

At a 2025 strategy meeting on Dec. 18, Pichai and other Google executives, wearing ugly holiday sweaters, promised the year ahead, especially in terms of what’s to come in AI, according to audio obtained from CNBC.

“I think 2025 will be critical,” Pichai said. “I think it’s really important that we internalize the urgency of this moment, and we need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high. These are disruptive moments. In 2025, we need to be ruthless on unlock the benefits of this technology and solve real user problems.”

Some employees attended the meeting in person at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, and others tuned in virtually.

Pichai’s comments come after a year filled with some of the most intense pressure Google has been experimenting since two decades ago. While areas such as search ads and the cloud produced strong revenue growth, competition rose in Google’s core markets, and the company faced internal challenges including cultural clashes and concerns about Pichai’s vision for the future.

In addition, regulation is heavier than ever.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google illegally holds a monopoly in the search market. The Department of Justice in November asked Google to be forced to yield its Chrome internet browser unit. In a separate case, the DOJ accused the company of illegally dominating online advertising technology. This process closed in September and awaits a decision of the judge.

The same month, Great Britain competition watchdog has published a statement of objections about Google’s advertising technology practices, which the regulator has provisionally found to have an impact on competition in the UK.

“It’s not lost on me that we face scrutiny around the world,” Pichai said. “It comes with our size and success. It is part of a wider trend where technology is now impacting society at scale. So more than ever, for this moment, we have to make sure that we are not distracted.”

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

Google’s search business still has a dominant market share, but generative AI has served up all kinds of new ways for people to access information online, and brought with it a host of new competitors.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT started the hype cycle at the end of 2022, and investors including Microsoft then propelled the company to a $157 billion valuation. In July, OpenAI announced that it will launch a search engine of his own. Perplexity is also promoting its AI-powered search service and recently closed a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $9 billion.

Google is investing heavily in trying to stay on top, mainly through Gemini, its AI model. The Gemini app gives users access to a number of tools, including Google’s chatbot.

Pichai said that “building a great, new business” is a top priority. That includes the Gemini app, which executives have said they see as the next Google app to reach half a billion users. The company currently has 15 apps that have hit that mark.

“With the Gemini app, there is a strong momentum, especially in the last few months,” Pichai said. “But we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position here as well.”

“Scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year,” Pichai added later.

Project Astra, Google’s experimental version of a universal assistant which the company announced in May, it will be updated in the first half of the year.

Another question from the employee asked if Google will be able to get AI products to scale without charging $200 a month “like other companies.”

“Right now, we have no plans for that kind of subscription level,” Hassabis replied, adding that he thinks the $20 monthly charge for advanced Gemini is a good value. “I wouldn’t necessarily say never, but there are no plans for that at the moment.”

Towards the end of the meeting, Google welcomed Josh Woodward, the head of Google Labs, to the stage. He took the microphone as Zombie Nation’s song “Kernkraft 400” played loudly in the background.

“I’m going to try to do six demos in eight minutes,” said Woodward, who is known for his high energy level.

Woodward began by showing Jules, a coding assistant who is in a trusted testing program. He said: “This is where the future of software development is headed.”

Woodward then moved on to the NotebookLM AI notebook product, which featured a series of updates in 2024, including a podcasting tool. Woodward showed how the company is testing a new feature that allows users to “call” a podcast.

He then moved on to Project Mariner, an AI-powered multitasking Chrome extension. Woodward asked to add the best restaurants from Tripadvisor to the Maps app. After a short break, the demo worked successfully, leading the employees present to erupt in applause.

During the meeting, Pichai kept reminding employees of the need to “stay scrappy.” Google went through an extensive cost-cutting phase that included eliminating about 6% of its workforce by 2023 and a continued focus on efficiency.

At the end of the third quarter, Alphabet had 181,269 employees, down about 5% from the end of 2022.

At one point, Pichai referenced the founders of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brinwho started the company 26 years ago, long before cloud computing or AI tools existed.

“In the early days of Google, you look at how the founders built our data centers, they were really scrappy in every decision they made,” Pichai said. “Often, limitations lead to creativity. Not all problems are always solved by the boss.”