Google, the search engine used by more than a billion people worldwide, is reportedly considering charging for premium content generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
The Alphabet Inc-owned company is said to be revamping its business model and putting some of its core products behind a paywall.
This will be the first time Google has charged for any of its content.
Google said it had nothing to announce “right now.”
It is said to be considering whether to add some AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services, which already provide access to its new AI assistant Gemini, according to the Financial Times (FT). , which is Google’s version of the viral chatbot ChatGPT.
Executives have reportedly not yet made a decision on when to proceed with the technology, but the FT said engineers are developing the knowledge needed to deploy the service.
The FT said Google’s traditional search engine would remain free but would continue to appear alongside search content with ads, which subscribers would also see.
Google has faced challenges coming to grips with the AI revolution — earlier this year Gemini, which can answer questions in text form but also create images in response to text prompts, accidentally Controversy after drawing portrait of US Founding Fathers Man.
He also created German soldiers from World War II, misrepresenting a black man and an Asian woman.
Google apologized and immediately “suspended” the tool, saying it was “missing the mark.”
However, the company is number one for the majority of internet users when it comes to searching for information.
According to global market research company Statista, Google has dominated the desktop search engine market since 2015 with 80%+ of internet users. Various websites report that it has more than one billion daily users.
Most of Google’s revenue comes from advertising. Its parent company, Alphabet, is one of the largest internet companies worldwide with a value of $1.6tn (£1.26tn) in 2023, according to Statista.
But it has diversified and now offers mail, productivity tools, enterprise products and mobile devices, among other ventures, and is expected to generate revenues of around £305.6bn (£241bn) in 2023.
In a statement released to the BBC, Google said it was “not working on or considering an ad-free search experience”.
“As we have done many times before, we will continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings on Google,” the search giant said. “We have nothing to announce right now.”