Google I/O conference will ‘solidify’ its status as an AI winner

Skeptics thought generative artificial intelligence was a big threat to Google, a tech giant that makes most of its money through its ever-popular search engine.

But those who thought chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT would wipe Google off the map have so far been proven wrong. The company had major corporate customers including Goldman Sachs backing its new-and-improved model of its chatbot Gemini at its Google Next conference in Las Vegas in April. Then Google’s first-quarter revenues, powered in part by Google search’s new AI tool, beat Wall Street’s expectations two weeks later.

Now, Google is set to announce more AI updates at its developer conference, Google I/O, on Tuesday in Mountain View, California at 10 a.m. Pacific standard time. The conference will also be livestreamed on its website. These AI updates will “solidify” Google as an AI winner, Bank of America’s Justin Post and Nitin Bansal wrote in a research note on Monday.

“We think the event will further build the case for Google (and the Android ecosystem) as an AI beneficiary,” they said, reiterating their buy rating of the company’s stock. Potential AI announcements include updates to Gemini’s image generator and new generative AI tools for Google Search, Post and Bansal said. Google is also expected to announce updates to its Android 15 and Pixel Fold phones and to shed more light on how it’s monetizing AI.

Google’s announcements come as competition among AI chatbot makers heats up even further. OpenAI on Monday released a cheaper, faster version of ChatGPT with groundbreaking visual and audio capabilities. Luckily for Google, OpenAI did not release a widely expected AI-powered search engine that would have posed a major challenge to its products.

Google’s stock price is up 45% from last year to nearly $171. It’s one of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks that have made major gains, mostly from AI.