Google Search is evolving beyond links and answers into a system that completes tasks, potentially fundamentally changing how users interact with the web. That’s according to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, speaking on the Cheeky Pint podcast.
Why we care. Google is signaling a move from information retrieval to task execution.
Search becoming agentic. Traditional search behavior is already changing and will continue to, Pichai said.
- “If I fast-forward, a lot of what are just information-seeking queries will be agentic in Search. You’ll be completing tasks. You’ll have many threads running.”
Pichai also described a future where Google Search acts less like a list of results and more like a system that coordinates actions:
- “Search would be an agent manager in which you’re doing a lot of things. I think in some ways, I use Antigravity today, and you have a bunch of agents doing stuff. I can see search doing versions of those things, and you’re getting a bunch of stuff done.”
AI Mode is already changing queries. Users are already adapting their behavior in Google’s AI-powered search experiences, Pichai said:
- “But today in AI Mode in Search, people do deep research queries. That doesn’t quite fit the definition of what you’re saying. But people adapted to that. I think people will do long-running tasks.”
Search vs. Gemini overlap. Despite the rise of Gemini, Pichai said Google isn’t replacing Search with a chatbot. Instead, the two will coexist — and diverge (echoing what Liz Reid said last month):
- “We are doing both Search and Gemini. They will overlap in certain ways. They will profoundly diverge in certain ways. I think it’s good to have both and embrace it.”
The interview. The history and future of AI at Google, with Sundar Pichai
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