Google I/O 2022 is over, what's next?

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At this year's Google I/O conference, the two-hour-long keynote was jam-packed with new products, features, large scale language models, passwordless log-ins, wallets, and whatnot? You can check out all the key announcements made at the Google I/O keynote here. 

"I do think of a few things, which I have tried to do at the company. One is at the underlying, more foundational layer that focuses on AI," said Alphabet and Google's chief Sundar Pichai in an exclusive interview with Nilay Patel and David Pierce, post-Google I/O conference. 

Pichai said AI is transformational across all the products and services. However, he said there is also a big focus on knowledge and computing. "Both of these are core aspects of our mission," he added, citing Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.

Google is betting big on large scale language models. The terms LaMDA, PaLM, etc ., kept coming up during the keynote announcements. Pichai said, as CEO, he has to make sure such innovations are moving at the correct speed. 

Taking a leaf out of Apple’s book

"The goal of everything we are showing is to actually build it into a product. I have no interest in being an R&D lab," said Pichai. However, he said they have been doing some cutting-edge R&D and are one of the world's largest R&D investors. The company has invested over USD 100 billion in the last five years. 

Throwing light on some of the launches at Google I/O, like Pixel products, Google Meet's translation and transcription features, AR glass prototype, etc,  Pichai said Google has been making huge strides. 

"Remember, Google has come through the desktop era; we are doing the shift to mobile. AI is a big shift we are driving," said Pichai. He said it cut across these aspects, and it is a natural evolution of the company. "I think if you are thinking deeply and building it for the future, it is a big part of getting it right," he added.  

With Pixel products, Google seems to be adopting an Apple-like approach. The latest additions include Google's first smartwatch, powered by Fitbit hardware. In 2019, Google acquired the fitness gadget maker for $2.1 billion. 

Software & hardware play 

"Our Pixel division is a major customer of Samsung's components," said Pichai. He said the ecosystem has evolved, and everyone is working together to ensure progress.

"Ecosystems are important. Android is open source, which means there are many different OEMs making things, so the Android team is thinking hard about making it better together," said Pichai, adding this is just the first part. The second part is the hardware side of things.

Citing Tensor, he said it has been five years in the making. "But, we knew we needed that to work well to make a tablet so that it shares the same silicon platform with phones. So, you had to crawl, walk and start to run on the phone before you could do the other things,” Pichai said.

Here's a quick overview of all the announcements made at the Google I/O developers keynote:

What's next? 

"I am always trying to think ahead about what are the key trends based on computing, based on how the web itself is evolving and trying to see where Google can contribute or how it can also lead," said Pichai, "It's a big part of how we should think about, and not to mention AI being the most important of it all."

Citing Skype, Pichai said distributed databases are a hard, interesting computer science challenge. "I think we get equally excited about that. It is important to think through user problems," he added. 

He said when anything evolves (in this context, he is talking about blockchain and web 3.0), the big part is to make sure you are leading in all the services. "Will you get disrupted? Yet, by definition, if you are not trying hard enough? "Yes, the answer is absolutely 100 percent," said Pichai.