Alphabet CEO says more than a quarter of new code at Google is AI-generated
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has revealed more than a quarter of new code at Google is now generated by artificial intelligence like Gemini.
This new reality is a testament to generative AI’s power to write and edit code, one of the technology’s most common use cases despite promises of productivity boosts across most work types.
Speaking at the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report, Pichai described AI as a central element in Google’s operations, helping to drive innovation and efficiency.
Google is using AI-generated code
“Today, more than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers,” Pichai noted. “This helps our engineers do more and move faster.”
Describing this sizeable AI injection as energizing, Pichai indicated new levels of efficiency would allow the company to invest more time building better products.
More broadly, he stated that new Search advancements, including AI Overviews, “are transforming the user experience, expanding what people can search for and how they search for it.” Google has recently rolled out AI Overviews in Search to more than 100 new countries and territories, bringing the tool’s monthly reach to more than one billion globally.
Google Cloud, the division behind the new AI advancements and infrastructure, generated third-quarter revenues of $11.4 billion, representing a 35% year-over-year growth.
Overall Google revenue for the three months ending September 30, 2024 stood at $88.3 billion, up 15%.
Pichai also addressed the environmental concerns relating to the energy-intensive nature of AI data centers, adding that a planned investment in small modular nuclear reactors is set to generate 500MW of carbon-free power.