Google may put its AI content behind paywall. Will you pay for search engine as well?

Google is looking at whether it should add certain AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services, it was reported.

Google may be considering charging for premium content generated by artificial intelligence (AI), it was reported as the company may be revamping its business model owing to which it may put some of its core product behind a paywall. If this happens, it would mark the first time that Google would charge for any of its content.

The Google logo is seen during the Google I/O annual developers conference at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. If this happens, it would mark the first time that Google would charge for any of its content. (AFP)

What report said on Google's plan to charge users for premium content?

Financial Times reported that Google is looking at whether it should add certain AI-powered search features to its premium subscription services. The service already offer access to Google's new AI assistant Gemini, the company's version of the viral chatbot ChatGPT.

Although the report added that executives have not yet made a decision when or whether to move ahead with the move. Engineers were developing the know-how needed to deploy the service, the report added. After the changes, Google's search engine would remain free of charge but would continue to appear with ads which subscribers would also see, FT reported.

Google denies the report

In a statement to the BBC, Google said it was "not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As we've done many times before, we'll continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google. We don't have anything to announce right now."

Google's Gemini challenges

This comes as Google faced challenges earlier this year when Gemini- which can answer questions in text form but also generate pictures in response to text prompts- sparked controversy after it created wrong images. Google apologised and immediately "paused" the tool as the company said that it was "missing the mark".