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Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly told Google employees that 2025 will be a “critical” year for the company. CNBC reports that it obtained audio from a December 18 strategy meeting where
Pichai and other executives put on ugly holiday sweaters and laid out their priorities for the coming year. “I think 2025 will be critical,” Pichai said. “I think it’s really important we
internalize the urgency of this moment, and need to move faster as a company. The stakes are high.” The moment, of course, is one where tech companies like Google are making heavy
investments in AI, and often with mixed results. Pichai acknowledged that the company has some catching up to do on the AI side — he described the Gemini app (based on the company’s AI model
of the same name) as having “strong momentum,” while also acknowledging “we have some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position there as well.” “Scaling Gemini
on the consumer side will be our biggest focus next year,” he said. ------------------------- _TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! __Sign up here__ to get it in your inbox every
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