Google held a strategic meeting for 2025, CEO: The risks are high, this is a disruptive moment

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently made it clear to employees during the company's strategic meeting that the "stakes are high" for 2025, as the company faces increasing competition in AI and regulatory hurdles.

"We need to internalize the urgency of the current moment; as a company, we need to act faster. The risks are high, and this is a disruptive moment."

Pichai stated that building "large new businesses" is the top priority, with the Gemini application expected to be the next to reach 500 million users.

DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis mentioned that the team will "accelerate" the development of the Gemini application, and the product will undergo significant upgrades in the next year or two.

AI Becomes Google's Core Strategy

Google's search business still dominates, but the emergence of generative AI has provided new ways for people to access online information and has brought new competitors like OpenAI and Perplexity.

According to CNBC, Pichai emphasized during the December 18th 2025 strategic meeting that Google plans to increase investment through its Gemini AI model to maintain a competitive edge.

Pichai stated that building "large new businesses" is the top priority, with the Gemini application expected to be the next to reach 500 million users:

"Scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be the biggest focus next year."

He acknowledged that Google needs to accelerate its pace to catch up:

“Historically, you don’t always need to be first, but you must execute well and truly be the best in class. I think that’s what 2025 is all about.”

During the meeting, Pichai presented a chart of large language models showing that Gemini 1.5 is ahead of competitors like OpenAI's GPT.

DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis stated that the team will "accelerate" the development of the Gemini application, and the product will undergo significant upgrades in the next year or two.

The Astra project is an experimental universal assistant version announced by Google, which will be updated in the first half of 2025. Despite employees raising concerns about high subscription fees, Hassabis stated that there are currently no plans to launch a subscription service similar to the $200 one, and the $20 Gemini premium version is considered to be worth the price.

Additionally, Josh Woodward, head of Jules Google Labs, showcased a coding assistant named Jules, which he described as representing "the future direction of software development."

Global Regulatory Pressure Intensifies

Global regulatory scrutiny of tech giants is gradually increasing. In the United States, Google's monopolistic behavior in the search market has already triggered legal action.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google illegally held a monopoly in the search market. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Justice requested in November that Google divest its Chrome browser business The UK's competition regulator has also issued a statement opposing Google's advertising technology operations.

Pichai acknowledged, "We are facing global scrutiny, which is inextricably linked to our scale and success." He continually reminds employees to "stay motivated."

Google is undergoing a broad round of cost-cutting, with approximately 6% layoffs in 2023. As of the end of the third quarter, Alphabet had 181,269 employees, a decrease of about 5% from the end of 2022