In a blog post celebrating Google’s 25th anniversary, Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of the tech giant, wrote on Tuesday that he used Google Search services in 2003 to get help in his Google interview.

“The product they (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) built, Google Search, went on to help billions of people around the world get answers to their questions,” Pichai wrote.

Pichai shared that he was once a regular user of Google, just like anyone else on the web, and the questions he asked Google evolved over time. He mentioned queries like “How do you fix a dripping faucet?”, “Fastest route to Stanford Hospital?” and “Ways to calm a crying baby?” He noted that in the spring of 2003, he might have asked, “How to ace a Google interview?”

Pichai joined Google in 2004 and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2015.

Google’s history

Google originated as a research project in March 1996 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University. The company was officially launched in 1998, with its primary product, Google Search, gaining significant success. Google relocated several times before settling in Mountain View, California, in 2003. The company went public with its initial offering in 2004 and rapidly grew to become one of the world’s largest media companies.

‘Google Search core of the company’

Pichai emphasised that, despite Google offering 15 products serving over half a billion people and six products with more than two billion users each, Google Search remains at the core of their mission. He referred to it as their “biggest moonshot” with much more potential for the future.

Pichai also discussed how technology has evolved over the past 25 years. “Years ago, when I was studying in the U.S., my dad — who was back in India — got his first email address. I was really excited to have a faster (and cheaper) way to communicate with him, so I sent a message,” said Google CEO. However, the reply took “two full days”.

‘AI is the future’

The Google CEO expressed hope that artificial intelligence will enable them to accomplish even more meaningful feats on a larger scale in the coming years.

“Our search for answers will drive extraordinary technology progress over the next 25 years. And in 2048, if, somewhere in the world, a teenager looks at all we’ve built with AI and shrugs, we’ll know we succeeded. And then we’ll get back to work,” Pichai concluded.

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