Google’s 2025 strategy is heavily centered on Gemini, its latest AI model, with a primary focus on bringing it to a wider consumer audience. This information comes from a recent employee meeting where CEO Sundar Pichai outlined the company’s roadmap, emphasizing that “scaling Gemini on the consumer side” would be their top priority next year.
This push is expected to manifest in several new AI-powered features throughout the first half of 2025, with the Gemini app (gemini.google.com) positioned as the next major platform to reach half a billion monthly users. This ambitious goal places Gemini alongside Google’s established giants like Search, Gmail, Android, Chrome, Play, and YouTube—all of which are already incorporating Gemini’s capabilities and boast over two billion monthly users each, as highlighted by Pichai in October.
This strategic direction underscores Google’s commitment to making Gemini a central and ubiquitous part of its consumer product ecosystem.
Emphasizing execution over speed, Pichai stated, “In history, you don’t always need to be first, but you have to execute well and be the best in class as a product. I think that’s what 2025 is all about.”
Acknowledging the competitive landscape, he admitted Google has “some work to do in 2025 to close the gap and establish a leadership position.” Meanwhile, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis revealed plans to “turbo charge” the Gemini app, promising massive product evolution over the next year or two. Their ultimate ambition, reflected in Project Astra, is to build a universal assistant capable of seamless operation across any domain, modality, or device.
Regarding Google’s ambitious Astra project, CNBC reports that it is slated to receive updates in the first half of the year. This likely points towards the integration of enhanced camera and vision capabilities into Gemini Live, the real-time interaction mode within Google’s AI ecosystem.
While currently being tested as a standalone application, Astra is ultimately intended to be rolled out to consumers via the Gemini app, further streamlining the user experience.
This development follows the recent update on Astra shared during the Gemini 2.0 launch earlier this month, where Google’s CEO, Demis Hassabis, also addressed concerns regarding potential high-cost subscription tiers, firmly stating that there are no “plans for this kind of subscription level,” differentiating Google’s approach from that of OpenAI’s premium offerings.
