The article Controversial AI mode: Google becomes a chatbot first appeared in the online magazine BASIC thinking. With our newsletter UPDATE you can start the day well informed every morning.
Google has its so-called AI mode integrated into its search in Germany and numerous other EU countries. The company is turning its search engine into a ChatGPT clone that is supposed to answer users’ questions directly instead of just giving out links. For publishers, the mode is a real horror scenario.
Google: What is AI mode?
- Google’s AI mode has been in effect since May 2025 in the USA available. Now the company is gradually making the feature available in 36 new languages and 40 additional countries including Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The delayed start has regulatory and data protection reasons – for example GDPR and the European one AI regulation.
- AI mode turns Google search into a chatbot like ChatGPT. For this purpose, the company has integrated a customized version of its AI Gemini Pro 2.5. The AI mode is intended for users Answer questions directlyinstead of just giving out links. Google suggests possible follow-up questions among the answers. The AI mode is not intended to replace the normal search for the time being, but to supplement it.
- Since March 2025, Google has been displaying an overview of certain search queries using AI over the classic search results. The feature was the first attempt to integrate AI into search. However, Google received heavy criticism due to numerous nonsensical answers. The AI mode is considered the next step towards one Search with artificial intelligence.
Classification: Google is becoming a chatbot
ChatGPT is still a dwarf compared to Google. But the AI chatbot is growing rapidly. According to OpenAI, around 800 million people use ChatGPT at least once a week. Many of them use the AI as a Google alternative or even as a replacement.
The search engine giant has therefore identified chatbots as a threat to its business model. To counteract this, the company wants to transform its search into a chatbot. Such a function could be practical for many users. But for websites and publishers the AI mode a horror scenario.
Because Links and sources become irrelevantwhen users receive a lot of answers directly. According to Google, the integration of AI is already paying off. This would mean more people would ask questions and spend more time using the search engine.
Conversely, this means that they more advertising are displayed through which Google earns money. In addition, chatbots and AI models are not error-free because they are prone to so-called hallucinations.
Voices
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained on the Google I/O 2025: “More advanced inference allows you to ask longer and more complex searches in AI mode. In fact, early testers have asked searches that are two to three times longer than traditional searches, and you can go even further with follow-up questions. All of this is available as a new tab directly in Search.”
- Danielle Coffey, President of the News/Media Alliance organizationin one statement: “Links were the last advantage of search, bringing traffic and revenue to publishers. Now Google is simply taking content by force and using it without compensation, which is the definition of theft. The DOJ’s remedies must address this to prevent continued dominance of the Internet by a single company.”
- Liz Reid, Head of Google Searchdefends the “All or nothing“-Strategy: “If a publisher says, ‘I want to be included in this feature but not that feature,’ that doesn’t work. Because then we would essentially have to say that every single feature on the site needs a different model.”
Outlook: AI mode will change the internet
With its AI mode, Google not only transforms its search engine into a chatbot, but in the future it will become that change the entire internet. Because: Google and website operators lived in a kind of symbiosis for a long time. The US company indexed pages and sent clicks and users back to the operators.
However, with AI mode, this will change drastically. Because Google Gemini will already answer many of users’ questions without them clicking on links. Even if Google manager Liz Reid does Opposite assertednumerous operators are already achieving an overview with AI Traffic drops of up to 55 percent.
The AI mode is likely to further exacerbate this development. For many users, the function may seem practical at first. But false or fabricated information in the form of AI hallucinations reveal the disadvantages.
Ultimately Google is threatening the business model of many publishers. Due to the “Overview with AI” function, this is already the first Lawsuit filed with the EU. More could follow with the AI mode if Google does not compensate publishers for the use of their content in any way.
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As a tech industry expert, I have mixed feelings about Google becoming a chatbot. On one hand, the potential for Google to provide instant and personalized assistance to users through a chatbot interface is incredibly exciting. It could revolutionize the way we access information and interact with technology.
However, there are also significant ethical and privacy concerns that come with Google taking on the role of a chatbot. The amount of personal data that Google already collects on its users is concerning, and the idea of that data being used to power a chatbot raises questions about consent and transparency.
Additionally, there are potential implications for job displacement as more human jobs are automated by AI chatbots like Google. It is important for companies like Google to consider the impact their technology could have on society and take steps to mitigate any negative consequences.
Overall, while the idea of Google becoming a chatbot is intriguing, it is important for us to approach this technology with caution and ensure that it is developed and implemented responsibly.
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