According to Wired, Google has introduced Gemini 3, its smartest artificial intelligence model to date featuring advanced reasoning, multimedia, and coding capabilities. Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, revealed the company is aggressively integrating AI across its product lineup including Google Maps, Gmail, and Search starting immediately. The announcement comes as Google reports seeing “double-digit” increases in natural language queries year over year, plus a massive 70 percent spike in visual searches that leverage Gemini’s image analysis abilities. Despite concerns about an AI bubble with unproven startups receiving multibillion-dollar valuations, Hassabis believes Google is insulated because it’s already deploying AI to enhance existing profitable products. The company is also exploring AI applications in gaming and robotics through tools like NotebookLM and AI Studio, which can prototype applications with AI.
Search Gets Smarter
Here’s the thing – Google isn’t just building another chatbot. They’re fundamentally reshaping how search works. When you ask about something complex like the three-body problem in physics, Gemini 3 can now generate custom interactive visualizations on the fly. That’s a huge leap from just serving up blue links. And the numbers don’t lie – double-digit growth in natural language queries means people are already changing how they interact with search engines. They’re talking to Google like they’d talk to a person. But is this actually better? Sometimes you just want a simple answer, not an AI-powered lecture. The 70% jump in visual search is equally telling – we’re moving toward a world where you can just snap a photo and get answers, no typing required.
Bubble Immunity?
Hassabis makes an interesting point about the AI bubble. He basically admits the market looks inflated but claims Google’s different because they’re not just an AI company – they’re a search/advertising company that happens to use AI. In a downturn, they’ll “lean more on that” existing business. It’s a smart positioning move. Think about it – while startups are burning cash trying to find product-market fit, Google’s already got billions of users and can gradually improve products people already use daily. But here’s my question: does being embedded everywhere actually protect them, or does it just mean they’ve got more to lose if AI doesn’t deliver real value? They’re betting big on this being more than just hype.
The ChatGPT Effect
Let’s be real – Google got scared by ChatGPT. The article mentions they were “shaken” by its sudden rise in 2022, which is corporate speak for “we had a holy crap moment.” The irony is Google invented the transformer technology that powers most modern AI, including ChatGPT. Now they’re playing catch-up in the public perception game. But Google’s advantage has always been scale and integration. While OpenAI needs to convince people to visit a separate website, Google can just slide AI features into the search bar billions of people already use. The real test will be whether these AI Overviews actually provide better answers than traditional search results, or if they’re just fancier ways of being wrong.
Where This Is Headed
So what does this mean for the future? We’re looking at a fundamental shift from search as information retrieval to search as conversation and creation. The demos showing automatic visualization generation are just the beginning. Soon you might be able to ask Google to create a presentation, write code, or analyze complex data sets – all through natural language. The company’s exploration into gaming and robotics suggests they see AI as the next operating system, not just a search enhancement. Whether this leads to another tech revolution or just fancier autocomplete remains to be seen. But one thing’s clear – Google’s all-in on AI, bubble or no bubble.
