AI will 'accelerate' product innovation, not replace workers, says Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai

Image Source: By © European Union, 2025

AI will "accelerate" innovative product development and obviate the need for tedious tasks assigned to engineers, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said, in a pushback against concerns that AI will make redundant half of Google's workforce.

In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday night in San Francisco, Pichai dismissed fears that artificial intelligence would decimate Alphabet's 180,000-strong global workforce.

He described AI instead as a powerful productivity tool that enables engineers to focus on high-impact work. "I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year," he said. "AI allows us to do more."

His remarks follow years of staff reductions across Alphabet's divisions. 

In 2023, the company laid off 12,000 employees, with another 1,000 cut in 2024. This year, layoffs have been more targeted: fewer than 100 employees were let go from the Google Cloud division, and several hundred more from the platforms and devices unit.

Pichai positioned AI not as a job killer but as a catalyst for growth, particularly as Alphabet expands into areas like autonomous vehicles via Waymo, quantum computing, and YouTube's continued dominance. 

He cited YouTube's massive footprint in India, which now boasts 100 million channels and over 15,000 creators with more than one million subscribers.

Despite his optimism, Pichai acknowledged the legitimacy of public anxiety around job displacement. 

When asked about Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could erode half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in five years, Pichai said, "I respect that... I think it's important to voice those concerns and debate them."

On the question of whether artificial general intelligence (AGI) — AI that matches or surpasses human intelligence across tasks — is inevitable, Pichai remained cautious. "Are we currently on an absolute path to AGI? I don't think anyone can say for sure," he said, adding he is "very optimistic" about continued progress and innovation.

"There's a lot of forward progress ahead with the paths we are on," Pichai said.