Google Took a Bite Out of Apple: The Gemini Masterplan - podcast episode cover

Google Took a Bite Out of Apple: The Gemini Masterplan

Jan 14, 202627 minEp. 110
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Episode description

Google has had a big week, with $1 billion annual deal with Apple to integrate its Gemini AI across 2 billion devices, signaling a major shift in the infamous Siri. 

We also discuss Google’s market cap surpassing $4 trillion, and the launch of Gemini in Gmail, which automates email management. Additionally, we analyze Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, aiming to redefine online shopping with partners like Walmart and Shopify.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 The Week Google Changed Everything
0:56 Google's Dominance in AI
2:29 The Apple and Google Partnership
3:01 Apple's Shift to Google AI
7:05 The Future of E-Commerce
17:38 Universal Commerce Protocol
23:10 Google’s Strategy for 2026
24:42 Conclusion: A Big Win for Google

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RESOURCES

Josh: https://x.com/JoshKale
Ejaaz: https://x.com/cryptopunk7213

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Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here:
https://www.bankless.com/disclosures⁠

Transcript

The Week Google Changed Everything

Ejaaz: Get this, in the span of just one week, Google got Apple to admit that their Ejaaz: tech is superior and pay them $1 billion for the privilege of putting Gemini Ejaaz: in every single Apple device. That's 2 billion devices. Ejaaz: Not only that, Google launched Gemini for Gmail, which now means that over 2 Ejaaz: billion inboxes worth of data is ripe and ready for them to train Gemini on Ejaaz: into the most personal, best AI assistant you could have ever hoped for.

Ejaaz: But there's a third thing as well, Google also launched a product that might Ejaaz: make them the backbone of the e-commerce industry. Ejaaz: If your name is Jeff Bezos or Amazon, you're sweating buckets right now. Ejaaz: There was also one little thing. Ejaaz: Oh yeah, they became the second most valuable company in the world, Ejaaz: surpassing a $4 trillion market cap, beating Apple for the first time since Ejaaz: 2019 and coming in second under NVIDIA.

Ejaaz: Now, most people saw three separate headlines from Google this week.

Google's Dominance in AI

Ejaaz: But on this episode, we're going to show you the master plan that connects all Ejaaz: of them and why Google might have just pulled off the most important week in AI in 2026. Josh: Man, what a week. I mean, they didn't even ship features. They just captured choke points. Josh: This was like a huge power consolidation week for Google. And it very much feels Josh: like they're assembling this full stack mode.

Josh: And I mean, I guess as a visual, you can imagine your iPhone's brain is Gemini. Josh: Your inbox is Gemini. Your shopping checkout is Gemini. Josh: It's not an assistant. They're creating this operating system for your life. Josh: And this started early on where I think the common joke and how I use my phone Josh: personally is I have an Apple iPhone for hardware, but I use all of the Google apps on my phone. Josh: And this is taking it to the next level where Apple has failed to generate

Josh: artificial intelligence, Apple intelligence on device. And now they've had to Josh: defer to Google to do this for them. Is it a bad thing? Josh: No. In fact, I think everybody wins. But maybe we could start there. Josh: And we'll get into what exactly is going on with this new Apple and Google AI deal. Ejaaz: Yeah, I mean, before we do, I mean, it's worth considering that Google three Ejaaz: years ago was the laughingstock of the entire AI industry. They had a terrible model.

Ejaaz: Open AI was running laps around them. And then in the last year, Ejaaz: their market cap has gone up 65%. And I think you were telling me before we started recording. Josh: This is crazy. Wait, so from April 2025 until today, Google's market cap went Josh: from 1.8 billion, or sorry, 1.8 trillion to 4.8 trillion. Josh: In the span of like, what is that? Nine months, 10 months? That's like unbelievable Josh: levels of growth for the second most valuable company on earth.

The Apple and Google Partnership

Ejaaz: I think it's because they have this very multi-pronged strategy, right? Ejaaz: Like the typical AI company is like, hey, we have this cool model. Ejaaz: Isn't it awesome? Here's a chatbot for you. Ejaaz: Google has that, and they have the infrastructure via TPUs and cloud, Ejaaz: and they have the distribution via Gmail, Google Maps, and pretty much any kind Ejaaz: of internet app you use today. Ejaaz: They're just kind of like this all-in-one unicorn behemoth, and it's showing, right?

Ejaaz: So let's get into the Apple deal. Josh, run me through the highlights. What's going on here?

Apple's Shift to Google AI

Josh: Yeah, so TLDR, Apple is changing its brain over from Siri to Gemini, Josh: except it is keeping it under the Siri branding. Josh: So what you're going to get is all the promises of Apple intelligence, Josh: hopefully, except instead of powered by Apple intelligence, it's actually under Josh: the hood powered by Google. Josh: Now, this might come as a confusing headline to some people because previously Josh: it was announced that Apple was working with OpenAI.

Josh: In fact, if you asked Siri a difficult question, it would offload that question Josh: to chat GPT. That is no longer the case. Josh: Apple decided, wait a second, we actually don't really think OpenAI is the best Josh: fit. We think Gemini is the best fit. And here we see the reasoning why. Josh: They said they've entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next Josh: generation of Apple Foundation models would based on Google's Gemini model.

Josh: After careful evaluation, Apple determined that Google's technology provides Josh: the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation models. So this is a big deal.

Josh: One, because they're now paying Google a billion dollars a year Josh: for this right but two because now they actually have a smart Josh: intelligence that they can integrate into the os in Josh: a way that everyone had always hoped for right like they Josh: they pretty much failed version one of apple intelligence it was just a complete Josh: and total failure but now they have an opportunity to do it again and they're

Josh: doing so with the model that i mean we believe to be most capable from a company Josh: that we really appreciate and they have a relationship that has been standing Josh: for a really long time if you remember from was it's got to be close to 20 years Josh: ago, like over a decade ago, Josh: Apple started paying or Google started paying Apple for the exclusive rights Josh: to have Google as the search engine on Safari. Josh: Well, now Apple's paying it forward. And instead of $20 billion,

Josh: they're paying $1 billion, so it's 5%. But this is a really harmonious deal. Josh: I think everybody wins in this situation. And as an Apple user, I'm excited. Josh: I've always used Google Apps, and now I could use Google AI in addition to those apps. Ejaaz: I think Google was the only option that Apple could really consider when it Ejaaz: came to putting an AI model in their devices. Ejaaz: Why? Google is the only company that can scale to the lengths that Apple has.

Ejaaz: OpenAI is still a small startup. Anthropic, still a small startup. Ejaaz: Google has the entire full stack, right? They have cloud, they have TPUs, Ejaaz: they have all the distribution, and they have all the money and resources to Ejaaz: be able to kind of scale this out to the size that Apple wants it to be. Ejaaz: The other important thing is the quote you mentioned, which is, Ejaaz: they believe Google has the most capable foundation.

Ejaaz: I think that's a signal and a hint that the way that Google's model is created, Ejaaz: The fact that you can ingest video. Ejaaz: Audio, as well as text makes it this kind of like all-knowing model, Ejaaz: which is way more useful for Apple, who builds products and apps and software in a very similar way. Ejaaz: The other thing that I think is important to point out here is there's this Ejaaz: kind of like platform play that is interchangeable between Apple and Google.

Ejaaz: As you mentioned, they've had a very long relationship. Ejaaz: And in fact, Google has been the one that typically pays Apple for the privilege Ejaaz: of making Google search the default search engine in Safari, right? Ejaaz: And they pay them, I think it's $20 billion a year, and that's existed for so long now, right?

Ejaaz: But now we see the first instance of it going the other way around, Ejaaz: where Apple is paying Google for the privilege of having their model embedded in their phone. Ejaaz: And they're going to use it to train the personalized version of Siri and their Ejaaz: own Apple foundational models. Ejaaz: And I can't help but think that there's a non-zero a chance in the future that Ejaaz: this trend flips and Apple ends up paying Google more.

Josh: Do you think that world would ever happen? So then how did they get to 5% of Josh: that total number if the expectation is that it can actually grow to $20 billion? Josh: What does that look like if they're paying Google $20 billion? What is that for? Ejaaz: Okay, so my take on this is if, or when rather, they do end up paying Google Ejaaz: more, Apple will be making way more on the top end.

Ejaaz: The reason being is Apple is a product consumer-oriented company, Ejaaz: And they are amazing at building exactly that, the consumer user experience.

The Future of E-Commerce

Ejaaz: They do this through devices, integrated software stacks. Ejaaz: It is just the best available ecosystem that you can access. Ejaaz: You and I have used Apple for God knows how long, right? Ejaaz: I think they're going to continue to do this. That's where their bread and butter Ejaaz: is. But they need the brain to be able to pull this off. Ejaaz: To kind of simplify this, I think if Google builds the best AI model, Ejaaz: Apple will build the best apps for everyone in the world to use.

Ejaaz: And that typically ends up making the most money if you look at every single Ejaaz: tech cycle to date. Do you have a different take? Josh: I feel like they would swap out before getting to the $20 billion mark. Josh: Like I'm just struggling to understand how they would be paying such a huge Josh: premium relative to where they are today. Like where is that difference made up? Ejaaz: Well, the switching cost becomes way too high, right?

Ejaaz: Imagine if every personal version of Apple's AI model that you use or that any Ejaaz: of their iPhone users use is trained on Gemini, Ejaaz: I'm guessing some portion of that data is trained on Gemini or rather Google Ejaaz: servers to some extent, right? Ejaaz: Apple can't hold all of that data unless you think they're going to expand their Ejaaz: private cloud to own that part.

Ejaaz: I don't see Google giving that part up, right? That's what is going to make Ejaaz: their models more competent in the future. Josh: Yeah, it seems like the strategy is going to be this twofold thing where they Josh: have Google in the cloud, and that's their foundation model that handles the difficult tasks. Josh: But they also have these really precise and very effective hyper-local models Josh: that run very efficiently and are very small to kind of handle the local on-machine compute.

Josh: And we've talked about this in a few episodes before, but it feels like this Josh: is still an underrated strategy for Apple where they've all floated this AI Josh: responsibility, I guess, to Google in a big way. Josh: But in the little way, there's still a huge opportunity on the local devices Josh: for Apple to run their own completely, totally private models that run on this secure enclave.

Josh: And again, if you're a developer who's building for these platforms, that's free inference. Josh: So maybe Google will give you really great rates and it'll give you really great Josh: results. But there's still this huge opportunity to unlock for anyone who wants Josh: to run these local AI models on Apple devices. Josh: And I'm hopeful that the developer community is going to start to see this because Josh: the cost of inference on these devices is zero.

Josh: And I mean, if Google does continue to ramp up the price, I assume it will be Josh: kind of in correspondence to the increased compute of these chips that can then Josh: run more and more capable models even on a local device. Josh: So maybe there's a world in which Google doesn't actually need to provide a Josh: ton of the intelligence, just the really hard stuff.

Josh: And eventually Apple's local models will catch up. I don't know, Josh: but it's an exciting thing to say a new paradigm shift, that they're actually Josh: taking it seriously now because Apple intelligence, as serious as it felt, was certainly not that. Ejaaz: Listen, there's a perspective that would say Apple is actually the genius in Ejaaz: the AI race here because they haven't spent tens of billions of dollars to try Ejaaz: and highly likely fail at building an AI model.

Ejaaz: We've seen that with Meta so far, right? Ejaaz: So, you know, they've just waited for the cream of the crop to rise to the top, Ejaaz: and then they've picked the best model, and now they're going to go do what they do best. Josh: Oh, we'll take that for a billion, thank you. Ejaaz: Yeah, I'll take it for, exactly, I'll take it for a billion dollars. Ejaaz: Also, you're still paying me $19 billion net to have the default search thing, right?

Ejaaz: So there is a world where Apple licenses the model, builds the best AI agent, Ejaaz: which supposedly is going to be the main interface that will replace the search Ejaaz: engine and the internet browser itself, which would mean that they could end up winning overall. Ejaaz: So I guess I'm bullish Apple, Josh, which is funny because on previous episodes, Ejaaz: I just haven't been that. Ejaaz: So yeah, I'm feeling optimistic about Apple's deal here.

Josh: Bullish Apple, bullish Google. I mean, hey, Apple doesn't have to worry about Josh: this data center craziness. They're in a pretty good spot. Ejaaz: One man isn't happy, though. One man isn't happy, Josh. Ejaaz: Who's that? That is Elon Musk. Oh? He commented on this whole news, Ejaaz: and he said, this seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, Ejaaz: given that they also have Android and Cruf. Josh: All right, well, Elon, unless you're going to go make an iPhone,

Josh: I don't know what to tell you, dude. I think the consumer is happy about this one. Ejaaz: Look at this tweet. from quinn yeah nobody wants to license grok little bro it's god just.

Josh: Wait until 4.2 comes until grok 5 anyways that's the apple and google news we Josh: have more google news as it relates to gmail if you are not using gmail i don't Josh: even know what you're using um but gmail has some good updates this week from Josh: gemini so you just can you please share the cool new gemini features that we'll Josh: be getting in our inboxes starting today i think Ejaaz: Yeah. So the highlight is Gemini 3 Pro is now available in your inbox in Gmail.

Ejaaz: It can do a bunch of cool things. It can get rid of all the garbage emails that Ejaaz: you're never going to respond to, all those unreads, just get rid of them. Ejaaz: And it can prioritize the ones that you need to respond to. Ejaaz: But also it can train on all of your emails and understand your voice and what Ejaaz: you want to say in your responses. So it can start writing up responses for Ejaaz: you and automating a bunch of work that you just don't want to do.

Ejaaz: But the thing that I found the most interesting, Josh, has got nothing to do Ejaaz: with Gmail, ironically. Ejaaz: It's to do with Google Workspace, which it also has access to. Ejaaz: So it's not just your inbox. Ejaaz: It has access to your Google Drive, your Google Documents, your Google Sheets, Ejaaz: which is just a plethora of data that no other company has access to.

Ejaaz: Which brings me to one of the key takeaways here, and the story that I think Ejaaz: a lot of people missed with this headline is... Ejaaz: Google just unlocked the mother of all data modes. Think about it. Ejaaz: Claude has access to your conversations. Ejaaz: OpenAI has access to your conversations. Google has access to 2 billion inboxes. Ejaaz: It has access to all your Google Maps data. Ejaaz: It has access to your search engine history. It has access to Android.

Ejaaz: It has access to all of this data, which they can feed into their model and Ejaaz: train a better model, which ends up becoming more addictive for a person to Ejaaz: use, a better experience, which then feeds into this kind of like whole data mode. Ejaaz: And to your point, they own the monopoly on email. I think it's something like Ejaaz: 30% of the email market share.

Ejaaz: And Josh, get this, 90% of US startups also use Google Drive and Gmail, Ejaaz: which means that they get access to all this data as well. Ejaaz: Now, I think it's important to state that Google has said that they're not going Ejaaz: to use the data to train their models, but it doesn't stop them from using trend Ejaaz: analysis and pattern matching to train their models, which is where the goldmine is anyway.

Josh: Yeah, so as you were saying this, I was looking at how many people on earth Josh: use the internet, and the number's about 6 billion. Josh: And Google says about 3 billion of those, 50%, rely on Gmail, Josh: which is just this unbelievably large amount. Josh: So like you described, it's great for data, it's great for Google in terms of user modes and lock-in. Josh: But I think there's an argument to be made that it's also great for the user too.

Josh: I mean, in a way, email is the closest thing we have to a life database.

Josh: Like normally normal people they kind of maintain everything Josh: through there it's like this is where your receipts live where you buy something Josh: this is where your meeting invites live this is where the contracts that you Josh: sign live this is where the intros to people who you meet live it's kind of Josh: the place where all of the receipts all the cataloging of your life lives and Josh: applying Gemini on top of that becomes this really powerful thing where

Josh: It builds this life operating system on receipts that you've collected since Josh: you've started this Gmail account. Josh: And one of the really cool things that I've been playing around with recently Josh: is clawed code this week. Josh: And I use this tool named Obsidian where I've just like written notes into it Josh: for years and years and years.

Josh: And for the first time ever, it's able to take that backlog of data and actually Josh: parse through and make sense of it and connect things in ways that weren't intuitive.

Josh: And this feels like the lazy man's version of that, where even if you haven't Josh: been writing into this like entry database for years, Josh: you've been collecting these kind of things along the Josh: way you've collecting receipts you've been collecting meetings and you've collecting whatever it Josh: is and now Gemini is able to parse through that make sense of Josh: it and build a more global model that understands you Josh: well so in that sense alone it's awesome the other sense is

Josh: actually for writing emails are we getting to a place now Josh: where AIs are just going to be emailing AIs like you guys Josh: you email me and you're just like oh just tell Josh this that and the third Josh: and then I have my AI reply with whatever it thinks that I'm going to know and Josh: then suddenly your gmail just becomes automated so this can this can go a various Josh: amount of directions but i think directionally it's great this is like really

Josh: exciting for anybody who's a user of gmail your experience just got way better Ejaaz: Yeah it's funny technology which is supposed to connect humanity as a whole Ejaaz: is ending up becoming the disconnecting engine of the and you.

Josh: Know what it's just because we're lazy man it's great at it and like why would Josh: i go write a long email when it could do it better than me faster than me more Josh: effectively than me more convincing than me it knows everything about me it's Josh: like this it's this unbelievable thing it's Ejaaz: Weird it's it's so true you know you mentioned you're using Ejaaz: cloud code um i i've been using called uh

Ejaaz: co-work which is basically cloud code for all the non-technical stuff over the Ejaaz: last like 24 hours and dude i currently have called co-work doing a bunch of Ejaaz: tasks that i have like put off for an entire year and it's great we're going Ejaaz: to be putting out an episode of this later this week yes oh.

Josh: It's my favorite thing i'm Ejaaz: So stoked for that it is so cool um but Ejaaz: anyway to kind of like wind up the gmail point Ejaaz: um i think it's a really good example of ai Ejaaz: coming to the people and meeting the people where they're Ejaaz: at right now ai has existed as this chatbot interface you need to kind of download Ejaaz: it pay a subscription and now it's kind of this useful tool um that everyday

Ejaaz: people can use it's not just you or i josh it is my mom it is my sister it is Ejaaz: pretty much anyone that has a gmail account you know there's three billion users Ejaaz: which i think is cool the second thing is, Ejaaz: This just kind of locks in people to using Gemini AI. Ejaaz: We had a conversation before we recorded this where you kind of raised the point, Ejaaz: why wouldn't I just connect Claude code to this and connect to it via API?

Ejaaz: And the simple answer to that is most people aren't going to go through setting up an API account, Ejaaz: which is a separate thing to Claude's subscription, by the way, Ejaaz: and then connecting it, adding the API key, if they just have Gemini baked into Ejaaz: it, which is just a full stack experience. Three billion users. Google wins again. Ejaaz: Yeah, the switching costs go up. Why would I want to just install this other Ejaaz: thing? It's already here and it's good enough.

Ejaaz: It may not be better than this particular benchmark, but I don't care. Ejaaz: It's already here. It's trained on my memory. I'm locked in. Ejaaz: I'm not using anything else. Josh: Yeah, and that's why distribution is so important. You just meet the people Josh: where they are and you have three billion people waiting to receive whatever Josh: you give to them. And today, it's AI.

Universal Commerce Protocol

Josh: Now, Ejaz, for our third and final topic, I want you to explain this Because Josh: if I remember just a few weeks ago, I read a newsletter published by you that Josh: said Amazon is going to be one of the biggest winners of 2026. Josh: And as I'm reading the news this week from Google, and particularly Sunar Pashai Josh: with this post, it's telling me, well, actually, Google is going to work to Josh: build a competitor to Amazon.

Josh: And maybe I'm reading this right, maybe I'm not. But they're teaming up with Josh: companies like Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, to create this universal Josh: commerce protocol. So maybe you could explain the bull and bear case for this Josh: new protocol, what it is, how it works. Josh: What's going on here? Is this a real problem for Amazon? Ejaaz: So let's get into this. Google released a product or protocol called the Universal Commerce Protocol.

Ejaaz: And it basically will allow you or anyone that uses Gemini to make purchases Ejaaz: and shop via the Gemini chat interface. Ejaaz: And the way that they do this is they hook up APIs from various different shopping Ejaaz: partners. like you mentioned, Shopify, Walmart, etc., connects to your wallet. Ejaaz: And now there's this seamless experience where Gemini...

Ejaaz: Via the context that you've provided it to previous conversations. Also, Ejaaz: by evaluating your shopping history, we'll suggest products as you're having Ejaaz: conversations with it or useful tools that might help you with a task that you're Ejaaz: trying to kind of resolve by talking to Gemini and say, hey, Ejaaz: do you want me to buy this for you? I'll get it delivered to you and it'll arrive tomorrow.

Ejaaz: Now, we've seen various instances of this appear. I think Codex, Ejaaz: which is OpenAI's first version of an agent, offered something like this, Ejaaz: but it just never manifested. Ejaaz: This is the real deal. It's still in a beta testing period, which is why I can't Ejaaz: really comment on it thoroughly, but it's supposedly meant to do the thing that Ejaaz: we've been promised for over a year now.

Ejaaz: So then the question becomes, if everyone is doing their shopping via Gemini Ejaaz: or via an AI chatbot, what happens to Amazon? Ejaaz: And that's a real problem, Josh, because what this ends up putting Google in Ejaaz: a position is, is the intense layer. What do I mean by that? Ejaaz: What I mean is it'll know exactly what you want to buy, and it'll purchase it for you. Ejaaz: And it'll know why you want to buy the thing, which is really important.

Ejaaz: Amazon, which currently has this ability because you go on Amazon, Ejaaz: you scroll, so it kind of looks at you use this habit, Ejaaz: we'll get that removed completely. So they'll just end up becoming the warehouse Ejaaz: and delivery fulfillment center. Ejaaz: Now, that's not exactly a bad thing. And I would actually argue, Ejaaz: Josh, that that has been Amazon's bread and butter, right? What's the biggest moneymaker, Amazon?

Ejaaz: It's not their shopping or e-commerce platform. It's AWS. Ejaaz: They are an infrastructure fulfillment center company. Ejaaz: To your point, they move atoms more than any other company in the world. Ejaaz: Big time. And I think they'll just continue doing this. Ejaaz: And Google will just be the layer on top that routes arguably more purchases Ejaaz: to Amazon if they fulfill their vision of being the biggest distributor.

Josh: Yeah, it's a good take. It seems right. It seems like in a way Amazon is kind Josh: of like the mall and then Google wants to be the credit card network plus the front door to that mall. Josh: And what we discussed in the last section where Google has 3 billion people, Josh: they have the people where they are. Josh: In the case of Amazon, you kind of have to seek that out. You go to Amazon to Josh: buy something, you go there with intention, but the intention is always fairly intentional.

Josh: With Google, you're just there, you're searching for carry-on luggage, Josh: you're searching for trips and then it could integrate these recommendations Josh: like we're seeing on screen with this example into the search results. Josh: So that point about intention is really important because, I mean, is this bad for Amazon?

Josh: No, because Amazon still owns the fulfillment, Prime, the last mile dominance Josh: that they have but yes, in the sense that Google does own that upstream intent Josh: and the moment you decide to buy something, Josh: Google can be there to capture that. So it's interesting. Josh: We'll see how this plays out. I mean, OpenAI earlier this year did something Josh: similar where they partnered with a lot of these companies and they integrated Josh: it into the search results.

Josh: But I haven't actually experienced that. I'm not sure if it's working. Josh: I haven't bought anything through ChatGPT. Josh: And yet they rolled this out months ago. So I think the actual execution on Josh: this really matters because on paper, it seems great. Josh: But is this actually going to convert sales using these new customers?

Josh: That remains to be determined like have you have you seen any have you booked Josh: anything through chat gpt post integration no Ejaaz: No i thought it was actually a terrible product um and Ejaaz: i remember being super excited by it but it just never took Ejaaz: off and maybe we'll see the same story here uh the real litmus Ejaaz: test will be if my girlfriend starts using it um i'll Ejaaz: end up with a problem at that point right um two two

Ejaaz: other important points here is google was Ejaaz: also kind of like the doormat to internet shopping Ejaaz: right like the search links josh 10 blue Ejaaz: links but then you had to kind of like figure it out Ejaaz: from there you had to browse and find the right product and now Ejaaz: they're saying hey we got the product for you do you want me to buy it and send Ejaaz: it to you right so there's this like interesting evolution where um kind of

Ejaaz: unexpectedly the monopolist is still trying to monopolize on the new frontier Ejaaz: which is like pretty cool to to see the other thing i just thought of, Josh, is, Ejaaz: we mentioned a stat earlier, which is 90% of US startups use Google Drive, Ejaaz: Gmail, the entire suite. Ejaaz: So that technically means they Ejaaz: could sell their product through Gemini in this new commerce protocol. Ejaaz: Which would be insane, right? And would cement Google's distribution at this

Ejaaz: shopping layer. It would just be insane overnight.

Google's Strategy for 2026

Josh: Yeah, so that's it. I mean, big week. In conclusion, I guess this is how you Josh: become unstoppable, right? You don't just build the brain. You buy the distribution. Josh: You embed it into the memory layer. You standardize the checkout rails. Josh: You kind of like capture the whole thing. Josh: And it feels like if 2024 and 5 were the model wars, 2026 is becoming the, Josh: I guess, maybe the default war. Like, where do you go by default to engage with AI?

Josh: And if that answer is Google products, it stands to be a very good year for them. Josh: And we're seeing that in the chat GPT and open AI, a degration of weekly active users. Josh: I mean, the relative market share of Gemini, of Claude is having an unbelievable month. Josh: They're starting to kind of chisel away. Ejaaz: I think Gemini hit 21%, right, of AI traffic. Josh: Something like that. It's happening quick. It's happening quick.

Josh: And one thing that I haven't heard in a while is an update to that 800 million Josh: weekly active user number from OpenAI. Josh: And I really am wondering how they're planning to deal with this because now Claude is building. Josh: Did you see Claude built the health app this week too? They launched the health Josh: app. We're going to have to talk about this in the roundup. There's so much Josh: stuff that happened this week. It's unbelievable.

Josh: But there's been big changes here and lots of paradigm shifts happening. Josh: And in terms of Google, this is a huge win across the board. Josh: It feels like it's a huge win for everyone, for Google users, Josh: for Google customers, for Google shareholders, and for Apple users as well. Josh: So big wins across the board, maybe not for Amazon, maybe not for anyone competing Josh: with these companies, but nonetheless, a really...

Conclusion: A Big Win for Google

Josh: Exciting week for Google and giving probably everyone listening to this at least Josh: something new to try out and play with. Ejaaz: Yeah, I agree. I bought more Google stock this morning before recording this episode. Ejaaz: But I know a lot of you listening to this kind of hate Google. Ejaaz: I might be wrong here. But if you do, let us know why. Let us know your thoughts on this. Ejaaz: I'm down. We do it every day anyway. A lot of you like to argue and we're there for it.

Ejaaz: But if you have any kind of opposing views and opinions we Ejaaz: want to hear it because like we we want to be able to know whether we're Ejaaz: kind of like on the right track or not josh and i take this stuff Ejaaz: pretty seriously and we see a huge amount of potential in google and we kind Ejaaz: of don't see how they can fail which is either a great opinion or a really really Ejaaz: bad one so let us know in the comments um if you aren't subscribed or you don't

Ejaaz: have notifications turned on please do both of those things it's around 80 of you um, Ejaaz: in 2026. We would like to get that down to what, Josh? Ejaaz: 30%, 20%, 0%? Josh: Yeah, we got to hit 30k subs too. We're right there and we need like 500 more. Josh: So if you want to help with that cost, tell your friends, tell your friends, Josh: friends, hit the subscribe button. Josh: It goes a long way in helping us start off strong in this new year.

Josh: Because by the end of this year, there's a lot, there's lots going to happen. Josh: And it's going to be crazy. It's Josh: going to be chaotic. And you're going to want to be here for the ride.

Josh: So we'll cover it three or four times a week, every single week so Josh: tell your friends that it comes hopefully packaged in these 25 minute episodes we Josh: did pretty good today i think we were we kept it moving today so hopefully this Josh: was enough for you to squeeze it into whatever window that you're listening Josh: to these episodes in we'll see you next time where we talk about claude because Josh: it's freaking awesome so you're going to want to stay tuned for that one uh

Josh: really cool paradigm shifting platform um but yeah until then hope you enjoyed Josh: this episode and we will see you guys on the next one see you guys

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