Google’s Free AI Utility Strategy and How Its A Threat to OpenAI in the AI Gold Rush

The following article was first published for subscribers to WiserPLUS!, a paid subscription to the Wiser! Newsletter.

A Wiser! Reader sent me an article from The Economist this week about OpenAI. It asked the question, “Is OpenAI the Next BigTech Giant?” The article makes the case that OpenAI is putting together the building blocks for the AI generation. Blazing the trail while others follow. The story made a compelling point, much of it I agree with. Afterall, who knows if OpenAI will join The Four/Five or Six, however you count BigTech?

But, where I diverge from the article is that, IMHO, the key player isn’t OpenAI.

It’s not OpenAI that’s building the picks and shovels at scale, its Google. Just like they did with Internet Search, they’ll do the same with AI. Make Google’s versions ubiquitous.

In this week’s PLUS!, I make the case that it will be Google, not OpenAI/Microsoft that builds the rails upon which we, the people, ride our AI trains.

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Over the past 25 years, we, the people, have gotten used to one thing on the Internet, and that is that it’s free. Nobody pays for email, although you can if you want extra things. Nobody pays (directly) for Search. Neeva tried to introduce paid Search, and failed. Social media is free, although the man-child is talking about charging “a small amount” to use Twitter. Final nail, coffin and all that.

My point is that we, the people, like that the Internet is free. We are willing to give up data and privacy in order to get all this free stuff that, to all intents and purposes, are public utilities.

The same is going to happen with AI. It’s a path that’s been trodden before…in Search.

Google’s Dominance in Search

The most significant tech antitrust trial in 25 years kicked off last week in the United States against the monopolist in question, Google. The last time it was Microsoft and the case of Internet Explorer. That was in 1997.