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In the latest episode of the All-In Podcast, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya and fellow co-hosts reacted to a revelation from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) executive Eddy Cue stating that the tech giant witnessed a decline in its search volume last month—something that hasn't happened in 20 years.
What Happened: In the podcast, which was recorded on Thursday, Jason Calacanis mentioned Cue's statement, which the Apple executive made during his testimony for Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google.
"For the first time ever in over 20 — I think we've been at this for 22 years — last month, our search volume actually went down," Cue testified, citing the growing popularity of ChatGPT and Perplexity AI as emerging alternatives.
The news sent shockwaves through the tech sector. In the five days, Alphabet's class A shares declined by 6.27% while class C shares decreased by 6.24%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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Calacanis then asked Palihapitiya if this is the time to panic. In response, the "SPAC King" called it a moment of reckoning.
He acknowledged that Google's Gemini remains one of the most impressive models in many domains, especially general information and chat. However, he said that the company is no longer enjoying its once-dominant 99% search market share.
Instead of waiting for more concrete data, Palihapitiya urged Google to assume a significant share erosion, potentially dropping to 75% within two years, and begin planning accordingly.
That planning, he said, should include aggressively positioning Gemini as the primary user-facing interface for Google.
But doing so, he warned, requires "taste and courage." Otherwise, Google risks being caught flat-footed while rivals like Apple, OpenAI and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) quietly implement changes and only announce them after they've already made an impact.
That reactive mindset, he cautioned, could demoralize Google’s talented teams and leave the company trailing in an industry where momentum matters.
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Why It's Important: Last month, Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue of $90.23 billion, a 12% increase year-over-year that exceeded Wall Street's estimate of $89.2 billion. A major contributor to this growth was Google Search, which generated $50.7 billion in revenue, up from $46.2 billion in the same quarter last year.