In recent weeks and months, Google has signalled more aggressively that it has drawn level with its rivals, especially through the launch of “AI Mode” and its new video model “Veo 3”.
In tech circles, AI Mode is seen not just as a new feature but as a kind of paradigm and an important addition to Google’s AI toolkit — one that could put the company back on track against growing competition. Perplexity AI, founded in 2022, is an AI-powered search engine and chatbot that uses large language models (LLMs) to answer users’ questions while providing multiple web links on various topics.
The Nvidia-backed start-up was reportedly close to raising USD 500 million last month, valuing it at USD 14 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Although some say “Google’s throne is shaking”, Erman Akıllı, professor of international relations at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, recalls that Google gained its dominant position in the early 2000s by overtaking rivals such as AltaVista and Yahoo, and stresses that large language models have now become part of daily life.
“Just as Google’s rise in the early 2000s created a new technological habit — even expressions like ‘Google it!’ — we are now witnessing a new transformation. In this sense, Google’s throne can be said to be shaking,” he said. “Companies may develop alternative approaches to Google, but in the end it will be very costly.” He added: “If models like Perplexity can act as a substitute for search engines in the market, we can no longer speak of Google’s past importance. Even today, using Google sometimes feels like relying on last century’s technology.”
