Google Empire in the AI ​​War

(Dan Tri) - For more than two decades, Google has been the uncrowned king of the Internet world. But now, that throne is being shaken by a new technology: artificial intelligence.

This is not just a technology war, but a strategic shift that will determine whether Google will continue to lead or become a follower in the new era.

The rapid popularity of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, DeepSeek is creating a significant change, challenging the traditional search model and raising an important question: How will Google adapt to maintain its leadership position?

Overcoming the lawsuit of the century

Google almost had to sell its Chrome web browsing platform.

Amid growing AI competition, Google has another major issue to address on the legal front: an antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice .

The biggest concern is the requirement that Google divest its Chrome browser, a key channel for distributing its search engine. Losing Chrome could significantly weaken the integrated ecosystem that has helped Google maintain its competitive advantage.

However, in a key ruling in early September, Judge Amit Mehta allowed Google to keep the platform.

Notably, one of the main reasons for this decision is directly related to AI.

He argues that AI search engines and chatbots are creating a new competitive landscape that could potentially challenge Google’s position: “These companies are now in a better position, both financially and technologically, to compete with Google than any traditional search company has been in decades (except perhaps Microsoft).”

The court’s recognition of AI’s competitive potential helped Google avoid the most severe remedies. But the victory was not without conditions.

The ruling requires Google to give rivals access to a portion of its search index data at a “marginal cost.” This isn’t giving away a full advantage, but rather giving rivals a “roadmap” to build their own data-gathering and indexing capabilities.

Additionally, Google must provide aggregated search results to competitors for five years on "usual commercial terms."

For Google, this is a positive outcome. The company retains its strategic assets, Chrome, and its ecosystem, while the fixes are brought to a manageable level.

The ruling allows Google to continue to focus its vast resources on improving its search and AI services, thereby strengthening its long-term competitive advantage. The company's foundation has been secured after a significant legal challenge.

Deeply integrating AI into the ecosystem

Google ecosystem is integrated with AI (Photo: TN).

After clearing legal hurdles, Google is expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy by integrating it more deeply into existing products. A recent move is the Google AI Plus subscription package, now available in Vietnam and 39 other countries.

According to the introduction, this service provides access to the Gemini 2.5 Pro model for handling complex tasks, the Veo 3 Fast video creation tool and visual utilities like Whisk and Flow. Notably, the AI ​​is integrated directly into familiar applications such as Gmail, Google Docs or Google Sheets, instead of requiring users to learn how to use a completely new product.

With the advantage of billions of users, Google has the ability to quickly bring AI into everyday digital life. Users can take advantage of AI to plan work, summarize documents or help write emails right in a familiar environment.

However, this approach also raises some concerns. First of all, there is the issue of cost: the AI ​​Plus package is still a paid service, which may limit its accessibility to the mainstream user group in emerging markets. In addition, integrating AI deeply into applications that are closely tied to digital life also raises some concerns about privacy, as personal data increasingly depends on the algorithms of a single corporation.

Some experts also point out that, although deep integration is convenient, it can also easily create an “ecosystem lock-in” situation, making it difficult for users to leave Google services. At the same time, competition with other AI solutions such as Microsoft’s Copilot or OpenAI’s ChatGPT also shows that this race is not likely to bring sustainable advantages to any one side.

In other words, Google AI Plus represents both a technological leap forward and raises questions about its true value to users and the balance between benefits, costs, and control over personal data.

New competition in AI

Microsoft and OpenAI are major rivals of Google (Illustration photo: Getty).

It can be seen that Google is holding a special position in the technology ecosystem: its search engine accounts for about 90% of the global market share, along with its browser and mobile operating system providing a huge data source and a wide distribution network.

According to data from SEMrush, despite the rise of AI chatbots, traditional search engines still generate up to 34 times more traffic, showing that the core role of search has not been replaced.

Another advantage of Google is the ability to integrate AI directly into familiar products, which are already attached to billions of users. Combined with strong financial potential to invest in research and development, Google has the basis to maintain long-term competition in this field.

However, the company also faces challenges. As a long-time market leader, Google may have been slower to react than emerging rivals to exploit generative AI.

Revenue relies heavily on traditional search advertising, making it difficult for Google to make a “radical shift” to the new AI model, as that risks eroding its main source of revenue.

The recent antitrust case is seen as a warning, and global regulators will continue to monitor closely. This could limit Google's ability to fully exploit the power of its ecosystem. In addition, the accuracy of AI-generated information and privacy concerns remain barriers that keep users hesitant.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and OpenAI are teaming up to mount a direct challenge, with rapid AI integration into Bing and the office suite.

Smaller companies like Perplexity also offer a new approach, despite their limited user base (the average Google user searches about 200 times per month, compared to 15.31 for Perplexity).

This trend shows the potential for a shift in user search behavior, where conversation and context may gradually become the new norm.

Google’s position is therefore not weakening, but rather transforming profoundly. Google is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy: protecting its core resources while investing heavily in new technologies and business models. The company is betting on a scenario where traditional search and conversational AI coexist, complementing each other rather than excluding each other.

However, the important question remains: will this combination really bring balanced benefits to users, or will it mainly serve Google’s strategy of consolidating its market power? This will be the key point in defining the company’s role in the coming AI era.

The AI ​​competition is still in its early stages, and the outcome will depend not only on technological capabilities, but also on companies' ability to balance user benefits with business goals.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/de-che-google-trong-cuoc-chien-ai-20250925003551744.htm