Good morning! A Texas lawsuit will test abortion shield laws, Figs gets a takeover offer, and Google’s VP of Search must keep the everyday tool relevant in the AI era. Enjoy your Monday!
– Search is on. The rise of generative AI has led some people to question the future of Google Search. The tool so ubiquitous it became a verb for the first time faces a real challenger in this era. Would people rather get AI-generated answers to their queries than comb through search results for information?
The woman in charge of ensuring Google Search stays relevant is Liz Reid, a 20-year Google veteran who was promoted to lead Google Search earlier this year. She joined Google in 2003 as an engineer building Google Local, which laid the foundation for Google Maps. Reid joined my colleague Jeremy Kahn for a conversation at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI summit last week.
“There’s always been different options with search, and we welcome that,” Reid says of competition from AI-powered search engine Perplexity and other tools.
Right now, Google Search and Google’s generative AI product Gemini are separate. Could they be combined one day? “I don’t think we honestly know what the future holds,” Reid says. In the meantime, AI can improve the Google Search experience without turning Search into a generative AI product, she argues. That could mean helping Google to understand whether the person searching prefers video results or not, whether they’re an expert or someone seeking out basic information to explain a concept to their kid, whether they’re deep in a research project or looking for a fast answer.
Reid argues that there’s not a strict dichotomy between AI-powered answers and traditional search. “AI-generated content isn’t by itself intrinsically bad,” she says. Yet whichever path Google Search takes, trust will be paramount—the need for it is reinforced by searches that add “Reddit” to the end of any query, seeking answers from real people. “People, especially younger users, really want to hear from the authentic voices,” Reid says. “They want to hear from the people they trust.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Up to the states. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton sued a New York doctor for sending medication abortion to a patient in Texas despite the state’s abortion ban. The first-of-its-kind lawsuit is poised to test the power of “shield laws.” Guardian
- No scrubs. Figs, the medical apparel-maker founded by Trina Spear and Heather Hasson, got a takeover offer from a private equity firm. Growth has stalled at the business known for its scrubs. Wall Street Journal
- No comment. United States Space Force chief data and AI officer Chandra Donelson brushed off a question about extraterrestrial life at Fortune’s Brainstorm AI conference last week. Alien life has been a topic of conversation recently, following a string of drone sightings in New Jersey. Fortune
- Back to basics. JetBlue is cutting back on flight routes and will start offering first-class seats in 2026 as the low-cost airline leans into regional leisure following its rejected merger with Sprint. “This is all about getting back to our roots,” said CEO Joanna Geraghty. Wall Street Journal
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Kindbody founder Gina Bartasi is stepping down as CEO; president Gina Bruzzichesi and chief business officer Shilpa Patel will be part of a new office of the CEO. Board member Linda Mintz will be chairperson of the board.
Mechanized AI, an enterprise AI company, appointed Amy Green as COO. Most recently, she was an executive search and assessment consultant in the technology sector at Russell Reynolds Associates.
1nHealth, a clinical trials patient recruitment platform, named Kayt Leonard chief commercial officer. Most recently, she was global principal, health care and life sciences strategic advisor at SAS.
Booz Allen Hamilton, a technology and defense consulting firm, named Andrea Inserra global defense sector president. She is the company’s EVP.
TD Bank named Allison Robinson head of U.S. consumer solutions, service, and operations. Most recently, she served as head of branch and premier banking at Truist.
Constellation, an emissions-free energy company, appointed Eileen Paterson to its board of directors. She was CEO of Aerojet Rocketdyne.
ON MY RADAR
Janet Yellen on Biden’s economic legacy—and how her thinking about trade has shifted Wall Street Journal
Super-spicy noodles make former stay-at-home mom a billionaire Bloomberg
The wellness women are on the march The Atlantic
PARTING WORDS
“To have the impact in society that we need to have, we need the diverse voices in from the beginning.”
— Lila Ibrahim, COO of Google DeepMind, on feeling a responsibility to bring women and other underrepresented groups into the tech space
