What Did Google Do This Week?
This week was all about the benjamins...all $84.1 billion of them.
NOTE: Summary issue due to illness. Apologies, switch to Beehiiv still going ahead next week. Subscribe now before the price goes up for new subscribers…
Google reported $84.1 billion in Q2 revenue, with profit rising 16% year-over-year, led by strong performance in advertising, cloud, and AI. Gemini engagement was front and centre in the earnings call. AI Mode reached 100 million monthly users across the US and India. AI Overviews scaled to 2 billion monthly users. YouTube revenue remained solid while new ad formats took hold. Market reactions pointed to higher compute costs on the horizon, but investor confidence stayed firm on Gemini’s continued traction. All in all, good results for Google.
Search received a new interface experiment with Web Guide, structuring results into Gemini-generated clusters. Control over how users find information is shifting. Concerns are mounting that the experience rewards machine-readable content over human nuance. A sharp critique warned that Google’s AI layers are remapping the web to fit its models. Licensing talks with major publishers are now underway as Google moves to formalise its supply lines. Content access is no longer scraped by default. Approval, payment, and structure are being negotiated until the law courts come calling.
Gemini’s virtual try-on for clothing launched linking generative overlays directly to ecommerce pipelines. Google Photos began testing photo-to-video generation, simplifying creative output for users without editing experience. Google Home and Assistant updates teased deeper Gemini integration across smart displays and mobile devices.
Development tools expanded as Google began testing Opal, a vibe-forward AI coding app aimed at beginners. Educational positioning suggests a broader effort to embed Gemini into future user habits from the first line of code.
Pixel 10’s first official design tease showcased a flatter, more polished device build, aligning industrial design with Gemini-led software workflows. The URL shortener shutdown was finalised, marking another step in retiring legacy infrastructure that doesn’t fit the new generative-first stack.
Mobile ecosystems entered another scrutiny cycle as UK regulators expanded investigations into Google and Apple’s app distribution rules and defaults. Big tech power increasingly no longer lives in results, but embedded in install flows, system prompts, and UI friction. The strangle hold is real, and the courts are trying to keep up.
DeepMind launched Aeneas, an AI tool designed to trace connections in fragmented historical records, turning research archives into structured timelines. Technical innovation remains ongoing in parallel with consumer AI scaling. Waymo closed a major liability loop as the US ended its investigation into recent collisions, attributing the issues to roadway conditions rather than system flaws. The closure buys breathing room but not full credibility in autonomy as Tesla announced rolling out more cars (but does it have the trust back?).
SO WHAT?
Q2 marked a structural shift for Google. Gemini is no longer in testing, it is infrastructure. AI now sets the terms of discovery, creation, communication, and monetisation across the stack. Older products are being shut down, and new ones are built to fit Gemini’s needs. Licensing, design, distribution, and language are all being rebuilt. Google is moving faster than regulators, ahead of publishers, and just far enough beyond user friction. Control is consolidating, this quarter made that undeniable. For now, Google is, like all big tech, looking cool, calm, and filthy rich on the surface, but there’s frantic paddling happening underneath the water to ensure the AI race is won…or perhaps it’s not to come third?
Stay ahead with the full 'What Did ____ Do This Week?' ecosystem.
Choose from OpenAI, Amazon now, and Meta soon.