The Google Exec Reinventing Search in the AI Era

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Every day, billions of searches flow through Google, making it not just the world’s most popular search engine, but one of history’s most valuable products. Yet for the first time in nearly 30 years, the company’s dominance is under threat. Generative artificial intelligence tools like Open AI’s ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people find information. On the latest episode of the Bold Names podcast, Liz Reid, VP, head of Google Search, speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins about transforming search for the age of AI. After more than two decades inside the company, Reid says that Google has weathered disruption before and believes this moment will expand, not erode, how people explore the web. But can Google Search survive in a world of AI chatbots and answer engines? To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com. Check Out Past Episodes: Condoleezza Rice on Beating China in the Tech Race: 'Run Hard and Run Fast' The Google-Backed Startup Taking on Elon Musk in Humanoid Robotics Reid Hoffman Says AI Isn’t an ‘Arms Race,’ but America Needs to Win Why IBM's CEO Thinks His Company Can Crack Quantum Computing Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at [email protected] Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Read Christopher Mims’s Keywords column. Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Boardrooms love buzzwords. AI, climate, resilience.
0:03.8	But what do they actually mean for CFOs and execs trying to survive the next earnings call?
0:08.3	That's where the pre-read comes in.
0:09.9	Real experts and real talk.
0:11.7	Subscribe to the pre-read, presented by Workieva.
0:18.9	Today on Bold Names, Liz Reed. She oversees Google Search and is something of a Google
0:24.3	lifer. Having been there more than 20 years, she has seen some of the biggest moments for this
0:30.1	company. And now she's overseeing one of the company's biggest transitions ever, the shift
0:34.5	to AI. They're dealing with a bunch of competitors, especially in chatbots like OpenAI and
0:40.0	perplexity. It has to do all of this while continuing to make money from advertisements and throw in
0:46.9	our discussion with Liz about the so-called dead internet theory. And I would say this is a doozy of a
0:51.6	conversation. Absolutely. And I can't wait to get into it.
0:54.6	But first, I want to read a little note.
0:57.3	News Corp, the owner of the Wall Street Journal,
0:59.7	has a commercial agreement to supply content to Google platforms.
1:04.3	Now that that's out of the way, let's get into it.
1:07.8	From the Wall Street Journal, I'm Tim Higgins.
1:10.6	And I'm Christopher Mims.
1:12.1	This is Bold Names, where you'll hear from the leaders of the bold name companies featured in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.
1:19.4	Today we ask, how does Google Search survive in the new world of AI chatbots and answer engines?
1:28.3	Liz, thanks for making the time.
1:30.6	You oversee a product that's used by billions of users every day.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.