If you thought 2024 was a big year for OpenAI, you could be in for a surprise in 2025. The ChatGPT maker ended the year with a bang with its '12 days of shipmas,' where it launched several products and services, including a new paid subscription plan dubbed ChatGPT Pro for $200/month. The AI firm also shipped its o1 reasoning model to broad availability, with rumors hitting the windmill suggesting that the model constitutes AGI.
A previous report by Mashable indicated OpenAI's 12 days of shipmas extravaganza was a strategic move designed to make the chatbot "the Everything app." While OpenAI hasn't categorically confirmed the claims, its recent moves have been strategic, ultimately turning the platform into a one-stop shop for the average user.
OpenAI is arguably the most popular chatbot, especially among mobile users, with the most downloads, installs, and revenues compared to its rivals, including Microsoft Copilot and Gemini. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella argued that OpenAI's success in AI can be attributed to its 2-year lead in the landscape, which allowed it to build and develop ChatGPT uncontested.
Nadella isn't the only top executive concerned about OpenAI's rapid progression in the AI landscape. According to a report by CNBC, Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently held a meeting with employees to discuss the company's focus and goals for 2025. As you'd expect, the conversation was centered on AI.
"The stakes are high," indicated Pichai. "In 2025, we need to be relentlessly focused on unlocking the benefits of this technology and solve real user problems." While Google retains its top spot as the go-to search engine for most users, the rapid emergence of AI-powered alternatives is tipping the scale.
Google's CEO admitted that OpenAI's ChatGPT is quickly gaining traction while responding to a comment that suggested ChatGPT is becoming synonymous with AI the same way Google is to search. More interestingly, the executive indicated that “scaling Gemini on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year,” potentially combating OpenAI's threat to its dominant search market share.
During the meeting, Pichai shared a chart displaying Gemini 1.5's significant lead compared to competitors in the space, including OpenAI's GPT. However, he admitted there might be competition for the top spot. While competition in a business environment is expected, the executive claimed, "I think we’ll be state of the art."
In history, you don’t always need to be first but you have to execute well and really be the best in class as a product. I think that’s what 2025 is all about.
Google CEO, Sundar Pichai
Last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella indicated that Google had all the potential and resources to become the leader in AI but failed. A repeat of the remarks triggered Google's CEO, prompting him to throw a lethal jab at Microsoft:
"I would love to do a side-by-side comparison of Microsoft's own models and our models any day, any time. They're using someone else's models."
In 2025, Google could potentially cement its footprint in the AI landscape, though its approach might be a tad unconventional. The CEO wants the company to revert to its old mode of operation, centered on building and shipping faster. While he admitted the approach is scrappy, it could present some advantages:
“In early Google days, you look at how the founders built our data centers, they were really really scrappy in every decision they made. Often, constraints lead to creativity. Not all problems are always solved by headcount.”
A former Google engineer warned the company might have bigger fish to fry with OpenAI's "temporary prototype" search tool (SearchGPT) than the antitrust ruling that deemed its search engine an illegal monopolist in the landscape.
The situation might have gotten more complex after OpenAI shipped ChatGPT Search — a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained using novel synthetic data generation techniques. It's worth noting that the AI-powered search tool is limited to ChatGPT Plus and Teams users, meaning you'll need a $20 monthly subscription to access its capabilities.
