Google Starts to Bridge OpenAI's Product Moat
I have a simple method for my own AI rankings: product delight. That is, when I use the various services from the players in AI, do they constantly surprise and delight me with not only the outputs but also the user experience details. Put simply: is it the best product for me, the end user, to use? It's subjective. But I trust my taste. For it is my own.
Anyway, this very scientific approach is why I've always considered ChatGPT the best product in the category. And judging from usage, I'm obviously not alone there. Sure, some of that is the first-mover advantage that OpenAI enjoys – which, in turn, has helped from a branding perspective as ChatGPT (a rough name to say and even spell out for many) is becoming sort of the "Kleenex" of the field. But beyond any technical capabilities, I've just always found OpenAI's strength to be in productizing AI in a way that their peers haven't been able to match. At least when it comes to consumers.
To be clear, I still think that's the case (see the recent Sora vs. Vibes "battle" and Group ChatGPT), but I also can't help but wonder if Google is closing the gap.
Yes, Google, the company famous for amazing technology but often flubbing the product when it comes to the roll out. That included, naturally, their first stab at AI. "Bard" was a comical flop, but they were quickly able to regroup and find their footing with "Gemini". And over the past year or so, it has felt like they were really making some strides and perhaps stepping on the gas.
Gemini 3 feels like the culmination of that. And the early technical benchmarks look impressive. But just as impressive to me are the product touches Google has been dishing out. NotebookLM was perhaps the start of this, but more recently, I was impressed by Google's ability to actually create a sort of viral product moment with "Nano Banana" – going so far as to lean into the silly codename (taking my advice?). There are now bananas – literal banana emojis – all over the UI. This mixed with the little, colorful graphical flourishes when using Gemini are just... nice.
Then last night I stumbled into Gemini's "Dynamic view" option. This is decidedly not a good name as it hides a product output that's truly profound in a sheath of blandness. But I mean, you have to try this.
From describing the end of Heat (spoilers) to explaining Interstellar (spoilers), it's wild what Gemini is able to do here. Basically, it takes what would be a useful AI text-based answer and wraps it in an interactive, visual output. It's honestly a bit hard to describe, but each result contains about a dozen little bits that are beyond impressive. Especially for something that Gemini is able to create in about a minute.
From the background sound (which you can toggle on and off) for the Interstellar result, to the time dilation relativity calculator for 'Miller's Planet', to the "landing lights" button to illuminate Neil McCauley's shadow in Heat. I mean, it really made this. Out of the blue. Again, in 60 seconds.
All of this sounds almost silly, but it also points to a world in which increasingly complex creations are able to be made on the fly by these tools. For "vibe coders" this may seem like nothing new, but this type of tool opens the aperture on what's possible for regular users to do. Are you more of a visual learner? Why not use Gemini 'Dynamic View' to create an explanation of stock buybacks for you?
Why not use it for anything and everything?
Have I mentioned that this product is still technically in "Labs"?1 Not only is it going to get better, there's hope Google will launch it with a better name.
Anyway, color me impressed. Google is on a bit of a roll when it comes to product delight, which isn't something I expected – and yes, I worked there for over a decade. And that – beyond the inherent structural, technical, and monetary advantages that Google has here (aside from that, what did you think of the play, Mrs. Lincoln?) – should have OpenAI a bit worried. There's a crocodile in the product moat.
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler