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Thanks for reading The Briefing, our nightly column where we break down the day’s news. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe to our reporting here.
Greetings! Here’s a question: If Google was started today, would it have a search bar on its website separate from its artificial intelligence chatbot, Gemini? I asked Gemini that question earlier today, and the chatbot thought that was “extremely unlikely” and that a “unified interface would be the almost certain choice.” As Gemini said, “the fundamental paradigm of how users interact with information has shifted. A company starting today would build itself around the new paradigm, not the old one.” Google should take its own chatbot’s advice and combine the Gemini and Search apps. Right now it can be difficult to know which portal to use for getting answers to a range of questions. On some queries—asking for advice about a medical condition, for instance—I’ve found you get almost exactly the same answer from both, particularly when you click the “Dive Deeper in AI mode” button in Google Search. Sure, that’s often not the case—type in a website name, and Search gives you the site while Gemini (after thinking for a little while) tells you about the site—but that should be fixable. This issue surfaced on Google’s earnings call on Wednesday evening, when CEO Sundar Pichai was asked how usage of Google Search with AI mode differed from the Gemini app. Pichai explained that while there is an overlap in how the two apps handle some queries, people using Gemini can “have a long conversation…just trying to pass time”—even using it for “a therapy-like experience.” He alluded to the possibility of Google uniting the apps somehow: “Over time I think we can make [the] experience more seamless for our users.” That would make a lot of sense. It’s a huge advantage for OpenAI that there’s just one ChatGPT: You can use it to search or to summarize an email. That helps ChatGPT maintain a big lead over Gemini in user numbers, because Google is spreading queries across two different apps. (See details of the apps’ traffic differences in our AI Agenda column today). And as Google enhances the AI power of its search engine, Gemini’s value as a stand-alone app is likely to diminish, reinforcing the question of why there are two separate apps. Knowing Google, you can bet that one reason the company has maintained two separate apps is internal fiefdoms defending their turf, as well as concerns about how combining them would affect the company’s roughly $200 billion in search ad revenue. Even so, whatever pain comes from combining the apps may be less than the negative impact of keeping them separate. Speaking of AI, you can bet tech firms were ecstatic at President Donald Trump’s comments on Wednesday that “you can’t be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book or whatever you’ve studied, you’re expected to pay for.” Publishers surely disagree. Many have struck licensing deals with AI, allowing the use of their data for training models. Some have gone the litigation route. The New York Times, for instance, sued OpenAI for copyright infringement. In March, a federal judge in New York allowed the case to proceed, rejecting OpenAI’s attempt to have it thrown out of court. Trump can’t personally overturn copyright law. But tech firms will be happy they have him on their side on this issue. • Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the recent layoffs of roughly 9,000 employees in an email to staff on Thursday, saying the cuts were necessary even though the company is “thriving.” He added: “This is the enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value.” • Crusoe, the startup behind the first data center for OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate project, is seeking around $1 billion in new equity, The Information reported Wednesday. • The NFL and ESPN are nearing a deal for the league to take a 10% stake in the Disney-owned sports media company, according to a report from CNBC. The terms could include ESPN taking ownership of NFL Network and NFL RedZone, two cable channels owned by the league. • The Federal Communications Commission approved Skydance’s purchase of Paramount Global, moving the deal a step closer to completion. Dealmaker was named the “Best in Business” newsletter for its insightful coverage of private technology and the AI hype cycle. Start receiving the newsletter here.
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