GOOG: Google One subscription base hits 150 million

Google One, a subscription service that charges users for cloud storage and AI capabilities, surpassed 150 million members. That represents a 50% increase since February 2024, when Google One surpassed 100 million subscriptions almost six years after its launch. In the same month, Google unveiled a $199.99/month plan that gave users access to AI features that were not available to free users. The business still offers cheaper Google One subscription tiers for file storage, but they lack most AI features. Shimrit Ben-Yair, a Google vice president in charge of the subscription service, stated the new AI tier was responsible for “millions” of subscriptions. Alphabet is working to diversify beyond advertising, which generated over three-quarters of its $350 billion in total revenue in 2024. Google One is part of this effort. As Alphabet struggles with the threat of AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s own Gemini, to its search engine dominance, its success with subscriptions may be crucial to its long-term financial prospects. For the first time, an Apple executive testified in court last week that AI offerings led to a drop in searches on Apple’s Safari browser. The iPhone manufacturer plans to launch AI-powered search capabilities, which would be a setback for Alphabet, which saw a $150 billion drop in market value that day. Ads have not yet been seamlessly incorporated into AI interfaces, compared to search engines