Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US) holds 2025 strategic conference CEO: The risk is high. This is a disruptive moment.

Alphabet Inc. Class C CEO Sundar Pichai made it clear to employees at a recent company strategy meeting that the stakes are high for 2025, as the company faces increasingly fierce AI competition and regulatory barriers. "We need to internalize the urgency of the moment. As a company, we need to act faster. The risks are high, this is a disruptive moment," Pichai said, emphasizing that building "large new businesses" is a top priority, with the Gemini app expected to be the next app to reach 500 million users. DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis said the team would "accelerate" the development of the Gemini app, with product upgrades expected in the next year or two. AI becomes core strategy for Alphabet Inc. Class C Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOGL.US)'s search business still dominates, but the emergence of generative AI has provided new ways for people to access online information, as well as new competitors like OpenAI and Perplexity. According to CNBC, Pichai emphasized at the December 18, 2025 strategic meeting that Alphabet Inc. Class C plans to increase investment through its Gemini AI model to maintain a competitive advantage. Pichai said building "large new businesses" is a top priority, with the Gemini app expected to be the next app to reach 500 million users: "Expanding Gemini's scale on the consumer side will be the biggest focus next year." He acknowledged that Alphabet Inc. Class C needs to speed up to catch up: "In history, you don't always have to be first, but you have to execute well and really become the leader in your category. I think that's what 2025 is all about." At the meeting, Pichai showed a chart of a large language model, demonstrating that Gemini 1.5 is ahead of competitors like OpenAI's GPT. DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis said the team would "accelerate" the development of the Gemini app, with product upgrades expected in the next year or two. The Astra project is an experimental version of a general assistant announced by Alphabet Inc. Class C, which will be updated in the first half of 2025. Despite concerns from employees about high subscription fees, Hassabis said there are currently no plans to launch a subscription service similar to a $200 subscription, with the $20 Gemini premium version considered value for money. Additionally, Jules Google Labs head Josh Woodward showcased a coding assistant called Jules, which he described as the "future direction of software development." Global regulatory pressures intensify Regulatory scrutiny of tech giants is increasing worldwide. In the US, Alphabet Inc. Class C's monopolistic behavior in the search market has led to legal action. In August, a federal judge ruled that Alphabet Inc. Class C illegally held a monopoly in the search market. Subsequently, the US Department of Justice in November asked Alphabet Inc. Class C to divest its Chrome browser business. The UK competition watchdog also issued a statement opposing Alphabet Inc. Class C's advertising technology operations. Pichai acknowledged, "We are facing scrutiny globally, which is inseparable from our scale and success." He continuously reminds employees to "stay motivated." Alphabet Inc. Class C is undergoing a round of extensive cost-cutting, with about 6% of layoffs expected in 2023. As of the end of the third quarter, Alphabet had 181,269 employees, down approximately 5% from the end of 2022. This article is reprinted from "Wall Street View," GMTEight editor: Xu Wenqiang.