While competitors focus on subscription models for their AI tools, Google's primary strategy is to leverage its core advertising business. By integrating sponsored results into its AI-powered search summaries, Google is the first to turn on an ad-based revenue model for generative AI at scale, posing a significant threat to subscription-reliant players like OpenAI.

Google's strategy of integrating its AI, Gemini, directly into its widely-used Chrome browser gives it a massive distribution advantage over standalone tools like ChatGPT. By making AI a seamless part of the user's existing workflow, Google can make its tool the default choice, which marketers must optimize for.

Google could surpass ChatGPT in usage overnight by replacing its traditional search interface with Gemini. However, its reluctance to do so stems from a fear of cannibalizing its core, highly profitable search ad business, creating an opening for competitors despite its superior distribution.

While ChatGPT is still the leader with 600-700 million monthly active users, Google's Gemini has quickly scaled to 400 million. This rapid adoption signals that the AI landscape is not a monopoly and that user preference is diversifying quickly between major platforms.

Google can afford to offer its LLM for free, creating immense pricing pressure on competitors like OpenAI. This strategy aims to eliminate competition by making their business models unprofitable, securing a monopoly for Google before it begins to monetize.

Demis Hassabis points out a paradox: if a company truly believes AGI is imminent, a world-changing technology, focusing on an advertising business model seems shortsighted. He suggests this focus on ads is a "tell" that reveals their AGI timeline might be more marketing than reality.

As competitors like Google's Gemini close the quality gap with ChatGPT, OpenAI loses its unique product advantage. This commoditization will force them to adopt advertising sooner than planned to sustain their massive operational costs and offer a competitive free product, despite claims of pausing such efforts.

Initially, AI chatbots were seen as a threat to Google's search dominance. Instead, Google leveraged its existing ecosystem (Chrome, Android) and distribution power to make its AI, Gemini, the default on major platforms, turning a potential disruptor into another layer of its fortress.

Gemini is converting daily ChatGPT users not just with model capabilities, but with superior UX like better response sizing and perceived speed. Crucially, the trust in the Google brand for search is transferring to its AI, making users more confident in its reliability, even with less complex reasoning.