On April 7, the Financial Times reported that Google is considering charging for new premium features powered by generative artificial intelligence, in what would be the biggest change ever to Google's search business. For years Google has offered a free consumer service funded entirely by advertising, and the proposed changes to its search engine would mark the first time Google has put all of its core products behind a 'paywall'.
Among the options Google is considering is adding certain artificial intelligence search capabilities to its premium subscription service, according to three people with knowledge of Google's plans. Engineers are developing the technology needed to deploy the service, but company executives have not yet made a final decision on whether or when to launch it, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Google's traditional search engine will remain free, and ads will continue to appear next to search results, even for subscribers. (Source: Punch)