Glossary › Players and products
An American technology giant known for its search engine and one of the largest developers and providers of artificial intelligence with the Gemini model family.
In plain terms
You likely know Google from its search engine, Gmail, Maps, YouTube, or your Android phone. Less visible is that the company is also one of the most important hubs for artificial intelligence: it has its own research lab (Google DeepMind), its own model family (Gemini), and it builds its own chips and data centers for this purpose.
Think of it as a utility company that owns the power plant, the grid, and the socket in your home. Google develops the model itself, runs it on its own machines, and integrates it into its own products, which billions of people use daily.
It differs from most competitors: you do not need to get used to a new application because the AI arrives where you already are. It appears in the search engine, your email client, your documents, and on your phone.
It is also an important player in the world of agents: it develops coding agents and agents that work independently in a browser. In 2025, it launched the open Agent2Agent standard, allowing agents from different companies to coordinate; this is now maintained by the independent Linux Foundation.
How it works
- Research: Google DeepMind researchers develop the base models; the best known is Gemini, which handles text, images, audio, and video.
- Infrastructure: the company trains and runs the models largely on its own custom-designed chips (TPU) and in its own data centers, making it less dependent on external chip suppliers than its competitors. However, it does not manufacture the chips itself and also uses Nvidia chips.
- Integration: the finished model is embedded into everyday products, such as an AI summary in the search engine, an assistant in Gmail and Docs, and an assistant in Android.
- Sales to companies: businesses and developers can rent the models via Google Cloud and build their own agents on top of them.
- Agents: tools built on top of models that do not just answer but carry out tasks in several steps, such as writing code or handling things on websites for you.
An everyday example
You type a question into the Google search engine, and above the results list you receive a few-paragraph summary written by AI, with source links below. The Gemini model compiled this, and it is quite possible you will not click through to any single website.
Who is affected
A common misconception
Limits and risks
- The AI summary appearing in search results can also be wrong or misinterpret a source, so for important questions, check the original page.
- Most of Google's revenue comes from advertising, so it is worth knowing that its business interests do not always align with yours.
- The more Google services you connect to an AI assistant, the more personal data ends up in one company's hands, so review your privacy settings.
- Due to the company's market weight, antitrust proceedings are underway against it in several countries, which could eventually change how its products function.
Similar, but not the same
- Alphabet – Alphabet is the parent company, while Google is its largest subsidiary; the two are often confused in news reports.
- Gemini – Gemini is the name of Google's AI model family and chat application, so it is one of the company's products, not the company itself.
- Google DeepMind – Google DeepMind is the company's AI research division that develops the models, while Google as a whole covers both the products and the business.
Related concepts
Alphabet, tech giants, AI development companies
Gemini, Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, AI summary in search results, Agent2Agent protokoll
A brief history
Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin as a search company. In 2014, it acquired the British DeepMind research lab, and since 2015, it has been part of the parent company Alphabet. In 2017, its researchers published the Transformer architecture. In 2023, the company merged its two AI research groups (Google Brain and DeepMind) under the name Google DeepMind and introduced the Gemini model family at the end of the year.
Where things stand
As of late 2026, Google is one of the defining players in the AI market: Gemini is an integral part of its search engine, Android, and office suite. The company is placing increasing emphasis on independently working agents while facing antitrust pressure in several countries.
In the news
- Students say AI companies are targeting under-resourced schoolsNov 7, 2026 · Education & Family
- Google Cloud adds OpenAI models and Codex agents to Model GardenNov 6, 2026 · Code
- Big tech firms and green groups are drafting joint US data center guidelinesNov 6, 2026 · Ipar
- Hungarian trade sources: GEO largely builds on SEO, with takeaways from a Vienna conferenceNov 5, 2026 · Marketing
- Parents sue Google, saying 13-year-old daughter used Gemini to plan suicideNov 5, 2026 · Education & Family
- Child safety lawsuits against Snap, Meta and Google mount; West Virginia also sues SnapNov 5, 2026 · Education & Family
- Visa test: AI shopping agents failed 42.8% of runsNov 5, 2026 · Money
- Parents sue Google, alleging school Chromebook AI helped plan teen's suicide attemptNov 5, 2026 · Jog
Also known as
Google · Google LLC · Google AI · the search giant · Gugli
Sources
This entry was machine-edited and has undergone machine expert review; the “In the news” section updates automatically from Agent Age stories.