Bruin AI Current Events
Google Reinvents Search with AI Mode | Entry-Level Jobs Face Extinction
Good morning,
This week, we break down Google’s bold pivot from search engine to AI platform, unveiling ‘AI Mode’ and Gemini 2.5 Pro as centerpieces of its future strategy.
We also look at how AI is phasing out entry-level jobs, as automation replaces junior tasks and companies demand experience from the start.
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- Karen
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Google Bets Big On AI
At its latest I/O Conference, Google seemed to make one statement clear to the rest of Silicon Valley: the future of Google’s business will ride on AI. With a wave of announcements centered around the Gemini AI system, Google is transitioning from a search engine powerhouse to an AI powerhouse.
The centerpiece for Google’s transition is ‘AI Mode,’ a reimagination of Google Search that provides a chatbot-like interaction when searching for information. With this model, users can ask questions, follow up naturally, and receive synthesized responses that are powered by Google’s large language models. While it sounds similar to current offerings by companies such as OpenAI, for Google, that’s the point. ChatGPT’s release and continual progress presents a challenge to Google’s dominance, and Google has decided that the best path forward is to disrupt its own business model before somebody else can effectively do so.
The stakes associated with these changes are tremendous. Google’s core search business generated nearly $200 billion in revenue last year. This revenue relies on the ability to provide reliable answers to consumers; AI, despite its glistening appeal, stumbles into error often. For Google, a false answer will be more than just a bug, it would be a business risk. To ameliorate possible damages, at least in the short term, AI Mode remains only an option which is available to users, not a required feature.
Beyond search, Google is embedding AI throughout its ecosystem from Gmail to Google Shopping, or even in the Smart Glasses currently under development. Gemini 2.5 Pro was also unveiled at the I/O Conference and is set to be more context-aware, allowing it to support inbox clean-up efforts as well as being able to act as a shopping assistant. VEO 3 is Google’s latest AI video generator, and it produces videos with hyperrealistic effects and audio, surpassing the capability of many existing AI-based video generation tools. The capabilities that have already been demonstrated worry many due to the ever growing risk of deepfakes and the possible threats facing the entertainment industry. For the average person however, most of these features will remain too expensive as Google’s unlimited subscription for these services costs around $250 per month.
Investors have responded with a cautiously optimistic tone. Despite initial wobbles, Alphabet stock rose nearly 2% since the end of the I/O Conference. Particularly after a sharp drop in value following Apple’s announcement of possible AI integration into Siri, many investors welcome the recovery. Moving forward, the question will be how Google can best integrate advertisers into the new systems.
With AI mode, Google has chosen not to implement advertisements, for now. While AI holds significant potential for Google, the search-based business model itself could collapse without effective integration of advertisement revenue into the AI systems. For this strategy to succeed, Google will have to demonstrate desire for AI search engines in both the appetites of consumers and that of the advertisers.
-Tobin
AI Removing the Entry Level
For years, entry-level jobs have been a rite of passage for college graduates and early-career professionals. Nevertheless, this foundational step in the career ladder is rapidly vanishing. Fueled by economic uncertainty and the growth of AI, companies have cut back junior roles and internships, instead favoring seasoned professionals with strong technical skills. While the economic uncertainty may be temporary, the shift as a whole is likely to impact the job market for decades to come.
The once-booming job market of Silicon Valley seems to be the epicenter of this new grad hiring collapse. Across the 15 largest tech companies, entry-level hiring has dropped 50% relative to 2019 levels. Prior to the pandemic, 15% of tech hires were new grads; now, new grads make up roughly 7%. Many attribute this to the rise of AI: why hire and train junior workers when AI can handle many of the same tasks quicker and cheaper?
The data seems to back up this idea. Since 2021, the average age of technical hires has increased by three years, and more than 80% of entry-level jobs now require at least two years of experience, according to data from Lightcast. Despite more stringent requirements and fewer jobs, the demand for internships remains strong as internships are attracting 2.5 times more applicants than usual.
In most sectors, the grunt work used to be done by the new-hires and interns. From filing and billing at a law firm to data entry at tech firms, these menial tasks used to provide entry-level employment for new graduates. Now, companies increasingly seek to replace workers with AI when it comes to such tasks. In fact, World Economic Forum data indicates that “40% of employers expect to reduce their workforce where AI can automate tasks.”
In national data, these effects are beginning to appear. The New York Federal Reserve reports that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates has jumped to 5.8%, its highest level since 2021. However, the unemployment rate does not paint the full picture. Underemployment, where those with specialized skills work jobs that do not utilize those skills, has also grown to nearly 41.2%.
The consequences of these impacts will not end when employment gets better. Data indicates that young adults who experience just half a year of unemployment at 22 can expect to earn $22,000 less than their employed counterparts over the next decade. The deeper risk here is not financial, however. Eliminating entry-level roles threatens long-term organizational structure as the experience needed for the next generation of executives will be harder to find, leaving companies with fewer options.
Despite possible pessimism, AI is not a dead end. At firms such as KPMG and Macfarlanes, interns are being given more strategic tasks now that the grunt work has been offloaded to AI. Such an approach can be applied across industries, but it requires initiative from the C-Suite rather than simple cost-cutting strategies.
While a quick fix does not exist, the cost of inaction risks creating a generation that falls behind before it can even begin. As the AI rewrites what work looks like, the entry-level should not be left behind.
-Tobin
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All the best,
Tobin Wilson, Editorial Intern
Karen Harrison, Newsletter Manager
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“If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” — Lemony Snicket
Just sharing, I hope you do not mind.
The True Threat of AI is Global Compute Governance, Job Loss, and Economic Displacement https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/the-true-threat-of-ai-is-global-compute