Google’s Cloud CEO hits back at A.I. competitors and says it’s the ‘first minute of a new game’ after ChatGPT disruption in newly leaked audio

Prarthana Prakash

The launch of ChatGPT a few months ago kicked off an artificial intelligence <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/15/tech-companies-microsoft-google-game-of-thrones-battle-ai-wedbush-dan-ives/">arms race</a> among Big Tech companies. <a href="https://fortune.com/company/microsoft/" target="_blank">Microsoft</a> has <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/01/24/whos-getting-the-better-deal-in-microsofts-10-billion-tie-up-with-chatgpt-creator-openai/">invested billions into Open A.I</a>., the company that created ChatGPT, and plans to incorporate the technology into its Bing search engine. And the chatbot’s debut forced <a href="https://fortune.com/company/alphabet/" target="_blank">Google</a>, which has been researching A.I. for years, to jump into the game and rush to market with its own A.I. product, Bard.  After decades of search dominance, the rapid developments have left Google playing defense. The company asked <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/31/google-testing-chatgpt-like-chatbot-apprentice-bard-with-employees.html">its A.I. teams</a> last month to “prioritize working on a response to ChatGPT.” And the urgency for Google to up its game made some staffers <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/10/google-employees-slam-ceo-sundar-pichai-for-rushed-bard-announcement.html">lash out</a> about the “rushed” and “botched” announcement of its own chatbot now in beta testing. In the latest glimpse of the pressure Google is under, newly leaked audio <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-chatbot-ai-cloud-ceo-thomas-kurian-2023-3">obtained by Insider</a> reveals the company’s Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian hitting back at critics in a company town hall last month, and saying that the battle for A.I. dominance was only just beginning. “There are other companies taking shots at us saying that we are late to market. We&#8217;ve missed the A.I. boat,” Kurian said in the recording. “I would tell you this is the very first minute of a new game, and the game is never done in the first minute.” Kurian further called on employees to work together, and hyped up the workers laboring over the company’s A.I. plans. “We are committed as an organization to providing the best capability in these markets, and I can promise you that our engineers are going to deliver amazing technology in A.I. to our customers,” Kurian said.  Google did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment. The company is navigating intense pressure and high stakes in the A.I. race.  Bing, which only controls a fraction of the search market, has much to gain from a successful A.I. search product, while Google has everything to lose.  “We believe that Microsoft is aiming not only to lower Google’s search margins, but also to dissuade Alphabet from running Google Cloud and other businesses at a loss,” an ARK Invest analyst wrote <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/14/microsoft-chatgpt-google-search-engine-cloud-azure-market-hyperscalers-ark-invest-alphabet/">in a note</a> earlier this month. While OpenAI is considered a small company that is more able to take risks—like releasing a chatbot to the internet at large—Google must weigh concerns about its reputation and how problematic A.I. released to the public could do damage to the company.  Its new chatbot, Bard, is currently only available to a limited group of “<a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/bard-google-ai-search-updates/">trusted testers</a>.” And even though Google did take a leap with Bard, the chatbot infamously gave incorrect answers during a videotaped demo announcing the product earlier this month, resulting in a <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/08/google-bard-ai-mistake-ad-stock-price-market-cap/">$100 billion</a> wipeout of market value from the California-based tech giant.<div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall"></div>

The pressure is on Google as the A.I. wars intensify.

Google Cloud CEO cheers on A.I. work after ChatGPT disruption

Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter examining what leaders need to succeed. <a href="https://mynewsletters.fortune.com/trust-factor/">Sign up here.</a>

F-BreakingNews

Google

Tech

Google's Cloud CEO hits back at A.I. competitors and says it's the 'first minute of a new game' after ChatGPT disruption in newly leaked audio

Google Cloud CEO cheers on A.I. work after ChatGPT disruption | Fortune

Preston Fore

Mastercard’s cloud technology could help make wallets and plastic cards obsolete

/2025/04/15/mastercard-shift-toward-tokenization-wallets-plastic-cards-obsolete-business-in-the-cloud/

Christiaan Hetzner

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a roundtable with faith leaders at Christ Chapel on October 23, 2024 in Zebulon, Georgia.

Trump tariffs could prove nearly as harmful to U.S. auto market as Lehman collapse and COVID outbreak, warn S&P forecasters

/2025/04/15/trump-tariffs-harmful-auto-market-lehman-collapse-covid-outbreak-warns-forecasters/

Allie Garfinkle

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., center, arrives following a break during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Congress has increasingly scrutinized social media platforms as growing evidence suggests that excessive use and the proliferation of harmful content may be damaging young people's mental health.

Mark Zuckerberg’s showdown with the FTC is massive for Meta—and even bigger for tech overall

/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerbergs-showdown-with-the-ftc-is-massive-for-meta-and-even-bigger-for-tech-overall/

Beatrice Nolan

Mark Zuckerberg testifying at a committee hearing.

Mark Zuckerberg suggested wiping everyone’s Facebook friends and making users start again to boost the platform’s relevance

/2025/04/15/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-whatsapp-ftc-antitrust-case/

Andrew Nusca

Meta FTC lawsuit: What hangs in the balance

/2025/04/15/meta-ftc-lawsuit-what-hangs-in-the-balance/

Christopher Bodeen

The Associated Press

China says it’s pursuing 3 alleged U.S. operatives for carrying out cyberattacks on Chinese infrastructure during the Asian Games

/asia/2025/04/15/china-pursuing-3-alleged-us-operatives-cyberattacks-asian-games/

Gen Z is reviving this boring job that millennials and boomers abandoned—and it's helping them land six-figure careers straight out of college

https://fortune.com/2025/04/13/gen-z-reviving-accounting-profession-six-figure-salaries-volunteer-income-tax-assistance-program/?itm_source=parsely-api

Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

A 92-year-old refuses to sell her home to the Masters golf course that’s spent $200 million on expansion: ‘Money ain’t everything’

https://fortune.com/2025/04/12/homeowner-wont-sell-augusta-national-masters-tournament-georgia/?itm_source=parsely-api

Emma Burleigh

Millionaire podcaster Mel Robbins hits back at Gen Z's lazy label—she says they’re stuck in a world their boomer parents wouldn’t even recognize

https://fortune.com/2025/04/14/millionaire-mel-robbins-gen-z-millenials-weak-lazy-reccesion-personal-finance/?itm_source=parsely-api

Ani Freedman

5 gut-healthy foods everyone should be eating, according to science

https://fortune.com/well/2025/04/13/gut-healthy-foods-probiotics-prebiotics-fiber-digestion/?itm_source=parsely-api

Jason Ma

China has stopped exporting rare earths to everyone, not just the U.S., cutting off critical materials for tech, autos, aerospace, and defense 

https://fortune.com/2025/04/14/china-rare-earth-exports-halt-trump-trade-war-tariff-retaliation/?itm_source=parsely-api

Jason Del Rey

Exclusive: Chinese suppliers are offering U.S. Amazon sellers a tariff solution—but it's not legal

https://fortune.com/2025/04/12/china-suppliers-amazon-sellers-tariff-workaround-proposal-lowers-declared-value-goods/?itm_source=parsely-api