Google had been slow off the blocks in the AI race, but it’s now made it clear that it wants to ultimately come up trumps.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has said that Google “fully intends” to make sure that its Gemini model is the first AGI. Brin also said that there had never been a greater cusp of change as the one brought about by AI.
“I think as a computer scientist, it’s a very unique time in history,” Brin said on the sidelines of Google I/O. “Honestly, anybody who’s a computer scientist should not be retired right now, they should be working on AI. That’s what I would just say. There’s just never been a greater sort of problem and opportunity, a greater cusp of technology,” he added. Brin had come out of retirement after recent developments in AI, and is now actively coding with Gemini engineers.
“So I wouldn’t say it’s because of the (AI) race — although we fully intend that Gemini will be the very first AGI to clarify that — but to be immersed in this incredible technological revolution,” he said, as Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, sitting next to him, nodded.
“I went through the Web 1.0 thing, which was very exciting. Then we had mobile, we had this, we had that, but I think (AI) is scientifically far more exciting. And I think ultimately, the impact on the world is going to be even greater than as much as the web and mobile phones have had a lot of impact. I think AI is going to be vastly more transformative,” Brin said.
Brin’s explicit declaration that Google intends for Gemini to be the “very first AGI” (Artificial General Intelligence) is a clear challenge to the likes of OpenAI and other AI companies. AGI, unlike the narrow AI that powers most of today’s applications, refers to a hypothetical AI system capable of understanding, learning, and performing any intellectual task that a human being can. Achieving AGI is widely considered the holy grail of AI research.
This statement is particularly striking given Google’s recent struggles to keep pace in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. While OpenAI’s ChatGPT has dominated headlines and captured the public imagination, Google’s Bard (now Gemini) has faced criticism and revisions. Brin’s confidence suggests Google is not only catching up but aiming to leapfrog the competition with the Gemini project. The recent release of Gemini 2.5 Pro, which topped most benchmarks, could be seen as evidence of Google’s aggressive pursuit of AGI. This upgrade potentially allows the model to process significantly larger amounts of information, opening doors for more complex and nuanced reasoning capabilities. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether Google’s vision of Gemini as the first AGI becomes a reality. The race for AGI is officially on, and with Sergey Brin back in the fold, Google is signaling its determination to be the frontrunner.