Google "tastes the sweet fruit" in the artificial intelligence race with OpenAI

In recent times, the technology company Google has been trying to catch up with OpenAI - the company that owns the famous ChatGPT application - in the field of generative artificial intelligence (AI). And it seems that this company is finally winning support from users.

The company's Gemini app took the number one spot among free apps on tech giant Apple's App Store this week, surpassing ChatGPT, the app that kicked off the generative AI boom nearly three years ago.

Gemini's rise is attributed to recent updates. Last month, Google released a new version of its "Flash" AI model called Flash Image 2.5, which comes with a novel image editing feature called Nano Banana.

This feature allows users to combine multiple photos together and use commands to create unique works such as digital statues from real photos.

According to a post last week by Gemini app head Josh Woodward, the new feature has helped attract 13 million new users in just four days, bringing the total number of users to 23 million since its launch. He also said that users have uploaded 500 million images to the app.

In another post, Mr. Woodward also said his team had to impose temporary usage limits over the weekend after seeing overwhelming demand.

As of the company's last figures in July 2025, the Gemini app had more than 450 million monthly active users.

Google’s growing appeal in consumer AI has also caught the attention of investors. On September 15, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, became the fourth member of the “$3 trillion club,” joining Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple. Alphabet’s stock price has risen 33% this year, far outpacing the Nasdaq’s 16% gain.

Earlier this month, the company also received a morale boost from a favorable antitrust ruling that allowed Google to retain its Chrome browser.

In July, the company's cloud computing division posted a nearly 32% jump in second-quarter revenue, beating expectations as investments in in-house chips and its Gemini AI model began to pay off.

Alphabet is still heavily reliant on search, said Dennis Dick, chief strategist at Stock Trader Network. But with YouTube, Waymo and other products and capabilities Alphabet is developing, investors are starting to see the possibility that it is no longer just a search company, but a company that is expanding into many other areas, he said.

Alphabet shares are trading at about 23 times forward earnings — the lowest of the “Magnificent 7,” and near its average of 22 over the past five years, according to data compiled by LSEG.

This suggests that Alphabet’s current valuation is both more attractive than its tech peers and more stable, not inflated relative to its own history, a combination that is ideal for many investors looking for growth without the hefty price tag.

In early August 2025, Google said it would invest an additional $9 billion in Oklahoma over the next two years to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure. Google will build a new data center in Stillwater and expand its Pryor facility to boost its AI and cloud capabilities in the US, along with training and workforce programs.

Increased competition has prompted major tech companies to spend heavily on building new data centers and developing skills amid booming demand for AI services. Google said part of the investment is part of its previously announced 2025 capital investment plan, while the rest will be spent in the future.

In its second-quarter 2025 financial report, Google raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $85 billion, citing strong and growing demand for cloud products and services as the company continues to expand its infrastructure to power more AI services. This is significantly higher than the $75 billion forecast Google gave in February 2025, which was already well above the $58.84 billion Wall Street was expecting at the time.

The increased spending forecast comes as demand for cloud services is soaring across the tech industry as AI services become more prevalent. As a result, companies are ramping up infrastructure investments to keep up with demand and are planning multi-year data center builds.

Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said demand for Google's cloud services is so high that it has now created a backlog of orders of $106 billion.

Ms. Ashkenazi said that the majority of Alphabet's capital spending in the second quarter of 2025 will be invested in technical infrastructure, with about 70% going to servers and 30% to data centers and networking equipment.

She added that the new forecast reflects additional investment in servers, server delivery times and an acceleration in data center construction, primarily to meet the needs of customers using cloud hosting services./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/google-nem-trai-ngot-trong-cuoc-dua-tri-tue-nhan-tao-voi-openai-post1062331.vnp