Google’s co-founders are reaping the rewards of the artificial intelligence craze, adding more than $18 billion to their combined wealth as the company unveiled an improved search engine.
Larry Page’s net worth increased by $9.4 billion to $106.9 billion this week, while Sergey Brin’s fortune increased by $8.9 billion to $102.1 billion, according to the Billionaires Index. This was their biggest weekly gain since February 2021.
Google will begin experimenting with a more conversational search engine and made its AI-powered chatbot more widely available, the Mountain View, Calif based company said Wednesday at its annual developer conference.
This helps the company assert dominance in an increasingly competitive field. Shares of its parent company Alphabet Inc. rose nearly 1% in New York on Friday after rising 8.6% in the two days to Thursday.
Page and Brin, who are helping push artificial intelligence and are more involved in the company than in years past, are among the biggest gainers of 2023 after adding more than $22 billion each to their fortunes. They are among the eighth and ninth richest people in the world.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is another beneficiary of the AI boom. He has invested in many startups in the field and has rejected public calls to slow the pace of research, citing concerns about China’s technological advances.
Most of his $23.6 billion fortune remains tied to Alphabet, where he is the third-largest individual shareholder. His net worth increased by $1.8 billion this week.
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