{"id":396748,"date":"2025-06-29T18:40:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T13:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/how-sergey-brin-is-taking-on-the-might-of-openai-crypto-news\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T18:57:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T13:27:24","slug":"how-sergey-brin-is-taking-on-the-might-of-openai-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/how-sergey-brin-is-taking-on-the-might-of-openai-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sergey Brin is taking on the might of OpenAI – Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Brin retired in December 2019 but returned to the company last year to lead a light brigade of over 300 engineers, all of whom are charging at OpenAI\u2019s GPT models, Google\u2019s primary rival in a high stakes battle. OpenAI\u2019s GPT models are disrupting the way people search, posing an existential threat to Alphabet Inc., Google\u2019s parent company.<\/p>\n

Brin is spearheading the development of Gemini, Google\u2019s suite of foundational AI models. Gemini\u2019s success, or failure, would impact two major areas within Alphabet\u2014Search, and the nascent space of video generation.<\/p>\n

For one, Search currently accounts for 56% of Alphabet\u2019s annual revenue of $350 billion. Search is also a matter of personal pride for Brin and Larry Page, Google\u2019s second founder. Giving up its market dominance in Search means letting go of the duo\u2019s legacy\u2014their entire life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Alongside Search, Brin was also concerned about Sora, OpenAI\u2019s video generation model. Last year, Google briefly showcased Veo, its video-generating foundational model. However, the market found Veo to be an effort from Google to catch-up with OpenAI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis prompted Brin\u2019s efforts to create Google Flow this year and launch the AI subscription plans\u2014all a part of his efforts to show that Google, in fact, is still the behemoth as far as Big Tech is concerned,” said a senior executive working on the integration of AI in Google\u2019s cloud offerings. He didn\u2019t want to be identified.<\/p>\n

At I\/O 2025, an annual developer conference held in May this year, Google launched Flow, a video generation and editing platform that lets users create films with dialogue and background music, without needing any camera, audio and editing setup at all.<\/p>\n

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A Google Flow demo in progress at I\/O 2025. (Shouvik Das)
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A second executive, who also didn\u2019t want to be identified, said that much of Google\u2019s AI showcase at the conference was driven by what Brin\u2019s team has been up to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe core task that Brin is leading right now is to prove that Google is not following OpenAI\u2019s lead in AI\u2014it is ready to lead innovation for others to follow. Last year, announcements that Google made were all either work in progress, or an iteration of what OpenAI had already showcased. This year, we\u2019ve largely undone that,” the executive, who works with Google\u2019s worldwide developer relations teams, said.<\/p>\n

A legacy at risk<\/h2>\n

Much of Google\u2019s success, thus far, lies in the \u2018PageRank\u2019 algorithm that made Search the global behemoth that it is today. While the algorithm\u2019s patent is owned by Stanford University\u2014Brin\u2019s alma mater\u2014he, along with Page, were the ones who invented it.<\/p>\n

After failing to sell its algorithm to then-market leader Yahoo twice between 1998 and 2002, Google went on to lead the market globally. In 2021, Yahoo was sold to investment fund Apollo Global Management at $4.88 billion. Alphabet, in 2024, generated $350 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

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A timeline of Google\u2019s progress that Brin and Page used to track on their office whiteboard. It is now framed and preserved at Google\u2019s satellite office in Mountain View, California. (Shouvik Das\/Mint)
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Page, to be sure, is no longer involved with Google\u2019s everyday operations, even though he retains a board seat. Instead, Page is focusing on a new AI venture, Dynatomics, which seeks to use generative AI to automate design-led manufacturing of products.<\/p>\n

In June 2017, a Stanford University research paper titled \u2018Attention is all you need\u2019, gave birth to the technology behind the transformer model, the fundamental architecture that underpins \u2018foundational\u2019 models. These models, trained on massive troves of data, today crossing trillions, aim to understand, think, calculate and feel like humans. This paper, and the study behind it, was funded by Google.<\/p>\n

But Google essentially squandered a technology that it believes it should rightfully lead.<\/p>\n

In November 2022, OpenAI\u2014still not well-known back then\u2014introduced ChatGPT, taking the world by storm and causing futurists to predict the doom of human jobs the way we know it today. Others predicted the nascent technology to have spurred into action an \u2018AI revolution\u2019, a seismic shift in the socio-economic balance akin to the industrial revolution of the 18th century.<\/p>\n

In June 2017, a Stanford University research paper titled \u2018Attention is all you need\u2019, gave birth to the technology behind the transformer model. This study was funded by Google. But the company squandered a technology it should rightfully lead.<\/p>\n

Alongside OpenAI\u2019s shortcut to global stardom, other big tech firms started cashing in on the AI overload. Microsoft was the first to pounce on the opportunity, investing nearly $14 billion in OpenAI and striking various forms of exclusive partnerships. Meta went the open-source way, appearing as a surprise early mover with its Llama family of foundational AI models. By December 2024, Amazon had announced its own family of \u2018Nova\u2019 foundational AI models, even though among Big Tech firms, its direct exposure to AI\u2019s algorithmic excellence was the least (Amazon earns its core revenue from e-commerce and cloud services).<\/p>\n

Apart from Google, only Apple has so far come off worse<\/a>. The latter\u2019s implementation of AI is yet to see any response of enthusiasm from its customers\u2014and analysts remain sceptical about its ability to keep up with the Big Tech fellows.<\/p>\n

Too big, too slow<\/h2>\n

Analysts state that much of Google\u2019s sluggish start in generative AI is attributable to the company\u2019s way of functioning. Jayanth N. Kolla, cofounder and partner at consultancy firm Convergence Catalyst, said that at one point, there were concerns internally within senior Google staff that the company was becoming like IBM. \u201cToo big for its own good, too complacent, and too slow to move on anything,” he said.<\/p>\n

In 2023, Google shared an internal note following the hype and surge of ChatGPT and OpenAI, asking all its employees to use its internal generative AI platform as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was to maximize the usage hours and mine as much data as possible to bring it up to a certain scale,” said a third executive who is with Google\u2019s software engineering teams. \u201cBard and PaLM (the precursors to Gemini), however, underperformed, which spurred Brin to start taking increasing interest in Google\u2019s AI progress,” the executive added.<\/p>\n

Brin, who turns 52 this August, isn\u2019t being strictly shy about his role. At I\/O 2025, he made a surprise appearance at a fireside chat with DeepMind chief and Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis.<\/p>\n

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A screen grab from a video of DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis (centre), Sergey Brin (right) and Alex Kantrowitz, host of the Big Technology Podcast (right), during a fireside chat at I\/O 2025. (Google)
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DeepMind, an AI research laboratory, is a subsidiary of Alphabet.<\/p>\n

Speaking about why he came out of retirement, Brin said, \u201cAs a computer scientist, it\u2019s a very unique time in history. Honestly, anyone who\u2019s a computer scientist should not be retired right now, and be working on AI.” He added that he intends to make Gemini \u201cthe world\u2019s first AGI, before 2030.”<\/p>\n

AGI stands for artificial general intelligence<\/a>, which is loosely defined as an algorithm that mimics the functioning of the human brain, capable of structuring randomized thought, emotion and empathy\u2014qualities that machines lack.<\/p>\n

Google showcased more than 16 new products and launches at I\/O 2025. The list includes its foundational model\u2019s new reasoning capabilities; a 3D video conferencing platform called Google Beam; an always-on version of Gemini Live; a production variant of Project Astra, a multi-modal, all-purpose AI assistant, and Android XR, a new platform for wearable devices.<\/p>\n

The headlines, however, were made by Search introducing a new \u2018AI mode\u2019, showcasing for the first time a chat-based interface that changes the way Google\u2019s search engine has worked since being incorporated in 1998.<\/p>\n

Beating OpenAI<\/h2>\n

Insiders Mint spoke to said that over the past 12 months, Brin has a single-minded focus\u2014beating OpenAI. A fourth executive working on product management at Google said that the transformer model \u201cshould be rightfully our area of expertise and leadership.”<\/p>\n

Since 2024, Brin has also been showing up personally at I\/O\u2014entering product demos without a prior warning to check on audience feedback.<\/p>\n

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Shouvik Das (left) with Brin at I\/O 2024.
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Executives and analysts believe that Brin\u2019s urgency lies in Google\u2019s own history. In turn, the executive\u2019s return has had a major role in shifting the company\u2019s focus\u2014and channeling its focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cSergey has been back since 2023. He\u2019s been at work every day focused on AI and Gemini. Another key player is Peter Danenberg who is the godfather of Gemini. In general, the existential threat<\/a> from Microsoft and Open AI galvanized the entirety of Google to focus on AI,” said Ray \u2018R\u2019 Wang, chief executive of US-based tech consulting firm Constellation Research.<\/p>\n

Busy Pichai<\/h2>\n

Brin is bringing unfazed focus to Gemini, Search and Veo, as Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, has multiple areas to focus on\u2014lawsuits<\/a>, global businesses, government relations, cloud, Android and more, the first executive cited above said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the long run, Google foresees its ability to use video generation as a platform to rope in advertisers worldwide, and eventually, establish market dominance in this field,” he added.<\/p>\n

Pichai, for the longest term, has been viewed as a conservative leader, steering Google\u2019s ship with \u201cone eye on the rear-view mirror,” said an analyst who didn\u2019t want to be identified.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Brin, that\u2019s too safe a stance at a time when Silicon Valley is going to war with each other over AI dominance. Plus, Pichai has too much to deal with. Brin\u2019s view is that AI today needs undivided attention and he\u2019s clearly right, as Google\u2019s spate of product launches and share price movement shows,” the analyst added.<\/p>\n

In the past year, the company\u2019s shares are down<\/a> over 6%, compared to Microsoft\u2019s rise of nearly 10%.<\/p>\n

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