Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Google\u2019s AI search box, app-building tools, and agent products will eventually converge.<\/p>
Pichai also rejected publisher fears that Google will stop sending traffic to the web in an interview with Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge. <\/p>
- \u201cThrough it all, we are very committed to both meeting user expectations and also connecting them to what\u2019s out on the web,\u201d Pichai said.<\/li> <\/ul>
However, Pichai\u2019s comments showed why those fears are growing: Google is moving Search toward conversations, agents, and AI tools that can answer questions or complete tasks for users without requiring a click.<\/p>
Why we care.<\/strong> Many people worried AI Mode would become the default Search experience at I\/O. It didn\u2019t, and many people were relieved. AI Mode still isn\u2019t the default Search experience, but Pichai outlined a future where Search, Gemini, and agents merge into a single AI layer for finding information, creating content, and completing tasks.<\/p>
Agents are the future.<\/strong> AI agents are the next major change for Search and the web, Pichai said:<\/p>
- \u201cI look at agents, and that is the next evolution of the web. I think it will evolve the web pretty profoundly.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
Google is building agentic tools across Search, Gemini, Spark, and Antigravity. Pichai said those products should eventually come together for users. Pichai has previously said that he sees Google Search evolving into an \u2018agent manager\u2019.<\/p>
One product. <\/strong>Asked whether Google\u2019s AI search box, app-building tools and agent products should become one product, Pichai said: \u201cIt will.\u201d <\/p>
Pichai said agents should work in the background when users plan trips, build things or complete tasks. Pichai said Google is still building the pieces needed for that shift.<\/p>
- \u201cWe are laying a lot of the primitives of what we need for agents to work end to end, and more importantly, for AI to work,\u201d he said.<\/li> <\/ul>
Dig deeper. Google\u2019s Liz Reid: Search and Gemini may converge, or diverge further<\/em><\/strong><\/p>
Google rejects Google Zero. <\/strong>Patel asked Pichai about Cond\u00e9 Nast CEO Roger Lynch\u2019s recent comment that the publisher was planning as if search traffic would fall to zero.<\/p>
- \u201cThat is Google Zero\u201d Patel said. \u201cCond\u00e9 Nast is saying, \u2018We\u2019re assuming that search will go to zero.\u2019 How would you respond to that?\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
The information market has changed far beyond Google, Pichai said:<\/p>
- \u201cThe information ecosystem is so much broader beyond Google, by far. We see it in the data, you see it everywhere,\u201d Pichai said.<\/li> <\/ul>
Pichai said publishers have spent years adjusting to new formats, platforms, and user habits.<\/p>
- \u201cIt\u2019s exceptionally dynamic, and so it makes sense to me every publisher is adapting to this new world.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
Google says some clicks are going away. <\/strong>Patel pressed Pichai on whether publishers should plan for a future where search traffic falls to zero, citing Lynch\u2019s comment that his teams were told to \u201cassume there is no search.\u201d<\/p>
Pichai declined to tell publishers how to run their businesses.<\/p>
- \u201cI\u2019m not in a position to tell such an iconic publisher what they should think about their business or plan,\u201d Pichai said. \u201cIf they are building content that is high-quality and people like it, I expect us to reflect that in our products. That much I can commit to them.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
He also said Search is already filtering out some visits.<\/p>
- \u201cAs the technology improves, low-quality clicks get filtered out,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a natural evolution we see. We see it in our metrics. Bounce clicks are going down.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
Google points to subscriptions. <\/strong>Subscriptions are one way Google is adapting to publisher business models, Pichai said.<\/p>
- \u201cOne of the small features we have done, but very important I think, is if you\u2019ve subscribed to something, we reflect that as a preferred source for you as a user.\u201d<\/li>
- \u201cWe are adapting to the fact that publishers are increasingly turning to subscription offerings, too.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
The interview didn\u2019t address why many publishers moved harder into subscriptions: Because they could no longer rely on search traffic the way they once did.<\/p>
Search had to move faster. <\/strong>Pichai said Google reorganized Search because the product needed to move faster in the AI era.<\/p>
- \u201cSearch needed to move faster, and Search was split across many leaders,\u201d he said.<\/li> <\/ul>
Google put Search under Elizabeth Reid, with Nick Fox leading the broader area. Josh Woodward also helped lead Labs and later Gemini work. The goal was to make Google \u201cset up well for this moment where we need to move faster as a company, which means we need to make faster decisions,\u201d Pichai said.<\/p>
The interview. <\/strong>Sundar Pichai on AI, the future of search, and what\u2019s happening to the web<\/p> <\/div>
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- \u201cSearch needed to move faster, and Search was split across many leaders,\u201d he said.<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cAs the technology improves, low-quality clicks get filtered out,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a natural evolution we see. We see it in our metrics. Bounce clicks are going down.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cI\u2019m not in a position to tell such an iconic publisher what they should think about their business or plan,\u201d Pichai said. \u201cIf they are building content that is high-quality and people like it, I expect us to reflect that in our products. That much I can commit to them.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cIt\u2019s exceptionally dynamic, and so it makes sense to me every publisher is adapting to this new world.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cThe information ecosystem is so much broader beyond Google, by far. We see it in the data, you see it everywhere,\u201d Pichai said.<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cThat is Google Zero\u201d Patel said. \u201cCond\u00e9 Nast is saying, \u2018We\u2019re assuming that search will go to zero.\u2019 How would you respond to that?\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cWe are laying a lot of the primitives of what we need for agents to work end to end, and more importantly, for AI to work,\u201d he said.<\/li> <\/ul>
- \u201cI look at agents, and that is the next evolution of the web. I think it will evolve the web pretty profoundly.\u201d<\/li> <\/ul>