Sundar Pichai Tells Employees To Embrace AI Or Fall Behind As Google-Parent Prepares For $85 Billion Spending Surge

Google-parent Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai has urged employees to ramp up their use of artificial intelligence, saying the company must boost productivity amid plans for $85 billion in capital expenditures this year.

What Happened: At an all-hands meeting last week, Pichai told staff that the era of adding headcount to scale operations is over, and that Google must now "accomplish more," reported CNBC, citing an audio of the meeting.

"Anytime you go through a period of extraordinary investment, you respond by adding a lot of headcount, right?" Pichai stated, adding, "But, in this AI moment, I think we have to accomplish more by taking advantage of this transition."

"We are going to be going through a period of much higher investment and I think we have to be frugal with our resources," he continued.

Brian Saluzzo, head of Google's infrastructure teams, highlighted urgency in making employees "more AI-savvy," citing internal tools like "Cider," an AI coding assistant now used weekly by 50% of its users, the report said.

Google has also launched "AI Savvy Google," an internal training hub with toolkits and Gemini-based courses built in partnership with DeepMind.

Why It's Important: As Google ramps up AI spending—up from $75 billion to $85 billion in 2025—the tech giant is also trying to cut costs by making its workforce more efficient.

Earlier this month, Yahoo Japan also mandated its 11,000 employees to integrate generative AI into their daily routines, aiming to double productivity through automation by 2028, reported TechRadar.

The rise of AI-powered automation has also accelerated layoffs in the tech sector, with up to 80,000 employees affected. Microsoft alone cut 15,000 jobs while committing $80 billion to new AI investments.

Price Action: In after-hours trading, Alphabet Inc.'s Class A shares slipped 0.27% to $195.23, and Class C shares edged down 0.14% to $196.15, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings show that GOOG maintains strong upward momentum across short, medium and long-term periods. Additional performance metrics can be found here.

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"We are going to be going through a period of much higher investment and I think we have to be frugal with our resources," he continued.

Google has also launched "AI Savvy Google," an internal training hub with toolkits and Gemini-based courses built in partnership with DeepMind.

Why It's Important: As Google ramps up AI spending—up from $75 billion to $85 billion in 2025—the tech giant is also trying to cut costs by making its workforce more efficient.

The push comes as competitors like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) demand similar AI adoption from employees.

Price Action: In after-hours trading, Alphabet Inc.'s Class A shares slipped 0.27% to $195.23, and Class C shares edged down 0.14% to $196.15, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings show that GOOG maintains strong upward momentum across short, medium and long-term periods. Additional performance metrics can be found here.