Google is planning to enhance its search engine with more artificial intelligence (AI) features that will allow the chat feature to interact with users in a more conversational, human-like manner, CEO Sundar Pichai told the Wall Street Journal. 

Google’s focus on incorporating AI features into its search tools indicates that the tech company is committed to competing against companies like the Microsoft-backed OpenAI and its chatbot, ChatGPT, CEO Sundar Pichai indicated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Despite the fact that Google’s search business accounts for over half of the company's revenue, Pichai denied any notion that chatbots posed a threat to the business. By adding AI to its Google search, he said the tool would be better equipped to answer a wide range of search queries. 

"The opportunity space, if anything, is bigger than before," Pichai told the WSJ. 

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The Google logo is displayed on a smartphone screen, with the page of the new artificial intelligence (AI) tool called Bard in the background.  | Getty Images

Microsoft recently released its enhanced version of the Bing search engine that is now powered by ChatGPT, which was first introduced by technology research firm OpenAI. The ChatGPT launch made waves throughout the tech world with the AI-powered bot demonstrating its controversial ability to answer questions and generates human-like text, including emails, summaries, essays, outlines, reports, computer code, even creative writing pieces. 

The generative AI feature helped Bing exceed 100 million daily active users in March, according to a Microsoft blog post. Microsoft is also including the chatbot technology in its Edge browser. 

Pichai indicated that he welcomes the competition from other companies. Google launched its own AI chatbot Bard earlier this year for an exclusive group of "trusted testers" before its complete rollout in March. He said Bard "seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models" and "draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses."

The AI booms comes at a time when multiple tech companies, including Google, have taken measures to cut costs. 

Google laid off 12,000 workers in January and recently announced it would cut back on some employee perks like fitness classes and spending on equipment, including company-issued laptops, according to reports from CNBC and the WSJ.