1.5 Billion Users & Counting: Google's AI Overviews Are Quietly Rewiring How The World Searches
“Nearly a year after we launched AI Overviews in the US, we continue to see that usage growth is increasing,” Sundar Pichai said during Alphabet's Q1 earnings call.
Google is riding a powerful AI wave. On its Q1 2025 earnings call, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that AI-powered Search is now being used by over 1.5 billion people every month, marking one of the most significant milestones in the company’s recent history. This explosive adoption of AI Overviews underscores how deeply artificial intelligence is transforming Google’s core business.
Pichai noted that Search, Cloud, and YouTube were the top-performing verticals this quarter. “We’re pleased with our strong results this quarter,” he said, adding that AI was powering many of the company’s latest features across products.
The standout announcement? AI Overviews – the generative, smart summaries in Google Search – are now reaching more than 1.5 billion monthly users, with usage continuing to grow as people discover the tool’s usefulness for a wider range of queries. “Nearly a year after we launched AI Overviews in the US, we continue to see that usage growth is increasing,” said Pichai.
Gemini 2.5 and AI Stack: The New Backbone of Google Products
Pichai also emphasised the company’s comprehensive AI stack – from infrastructure to research to product integration – as a key differentiator. He highlighted the rollout of Gemini 2.5, Google’s most powerful AI model yet, calling it a breakthrough in reasoning, science, and math. “It’s widely recognised as the best model in the industry,” he stated.
The new Ironwood TPU, Google's most powerful processor to date, brings over 10x performance improvements and double the power efficiency. Google’s strategic partnership with NVIDIA continues to pay off, with early access to the latest generation of GPUs, including the groundbreaking B200 and GB200 Blackwell chips.
“All 15 of our products with a half billion users now use Gemini models,” Pichai said, showcasing how deeply embedded AI has become in the company's ecosystem—from Android and Pixel to Google Assistant.
Cloud and YouTube Continue to Grow, Waymo Expands Reach
On the cloud front, Google highlighted strong customer adoption of its Vertex AI Platform, which now supports over 200 models. Enterprise partners like Lowe’s, KPMG, and Verizon are tapping into Google’s AI agents and tools to automate workflows and drive efficiencies. Google Workspace, too, is delivering over 2 billion AI assists every month.
On YouTube’s 20th anniversary, Pichai noted major growth in subscriptions and TV viewership. “TV is the primary device for YouTube viewing in the US,” he said, pointing out that YouTube has been number one in US streaming watch time for two straight years. The platform now boasts 125 million Premium and Music subscribers and over 1 billion monthly podcast users.
Meanwhile, Waymo, Google’s self-driving unit, is logging over 250,000 paid passenger trips each week, up five-fold from last year. The autonomous service is expanding across cities, including a future launch in Washington, DC, in 2026.
Looking Ahead: More AI Innovations Coming
Pichai closed his remarks with excitement for upcoming showcases like Google I/O, Brandcast, and Google Marketing Live. “This quarter was super exciting,” he said, promising more innovations ahead. “And we are focused on bringing this to people and customers everywhere.”
With AI now embedded across its products and services, Google appears set on redefining its future—and ours—through machine learning, automation, and intelligent assistance at scale.
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