Google vs OpenAI | AI agents will transform online search; Google faces stiff challenge from OpenAI: Snowflake CEO

With adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) on the rise, online search is undergoing a transformational shift, said Sridhar Ramaswamy, chief executive of cloud software firm Snowflake, in an exclusive interview with ETtech’s Samidha Sharma and Pranav Mukul, on Friday.

“Search, as we know it, is going to change dramatically. In a world of agents that can browse and navigate, the utility from search tools is increasing sharply,” said Ramaswamy.

Also Read: ETtech Interview: From online search to data stacks, AI is forcing a reset: Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy


The Snowflake CEO, who had been part of search giant Google for 15 years, leading its advertising business, said legacy companies will find it hard to match the pace of startups such as OpenAI in web searches.

“Companies like OpenAI, which now have close to a billion users, don't have an existing business model to protect. That gives them more freedom to innovate than the Google search team has,” he said.

“Hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue is a very real constraint. You can't make massive changes purely in the name of user value.”

Listen to the ET Morning Brief podcast with Ramaswamy here.

Chrome vs AI browsers

Chrome, released in 2008, has amassed about 3 billion worldwide users and has been adding some AI features from Google's Gemini technology.

OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered web browser built around its chatbot, last October. Following the announcement, Google's stock dipped 2.21%. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has described this browser launch as a “once-a-decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be.”

Meanwhile, Perplexity, in July, launched Comet, a chatbot-style browser that acts like an AI-powered search engine.

Other popular browsers include Neon by Opera, SigmaOS, and Brave, which is known for its strong privacy focus. It blocks ads and trackers by default and also offers a VPN, an AI assistant, and built-in video calling, among other features.

While startups such as Snowflake are focused on building niche products and services, Ramaswamy said hyperscalers like cloud giants are both partners and competitors to the company.

“Hyperscalers are our biggest partners. Obviously, they also compete with us. But similar to building a large language model, building a high-quality data platform is a specialised skill, and we are the best in the world when it comes to these kinds of analytic platforms,” said Ramaswamy. “As a company, we are not going to go away. There is some competition, but we are confident about our place under the sun,” he added.