Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has subtly addressed a statement by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella regarding the competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. Pichai's remarks came during an appearance on the All-In podcast, referencing Nadella's comment about making Google "dance" in the AI race. This marks the second instance where Pichai has responded to Nadella's statement.

During the conversation, host David Friedberg asked Pichai about facing fierce competition in the AI space from companies led by prominent tech figures.

“Your competitors have active founders—OpenAI has Sam Altman, xAI has Elon Musk, Meta has Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft has Satya Nadella. Would you be willing to share your thoughts on these companies and their leaders?”

Pichai responded diplomatically, saying, “Obviously, it's a very impressive group.”

“These are some of the best companies led by some of the most driven entrepreneurs. Their involvement highlights how much innovation we can expect to see—these are people deeply committed to pushing progress forward,” he noted.

Then, with a touch of humour, he smilingly added, “Look, they’re all different personalities. I’m lucky to know each of them. I think only one of them has ever invited me to a dance—not the others.”

This is the second such address by Pichai, previously being last year when he answered the much-debated question: Did Google "dance" in response to Microsoft’s AI-powered push with the revamped Bing? His answer is a firm no—Pichai says he's focused on Google's own path, not following someone else’s rhythm.

“One of the ways you can go wrong is by paying too much attention to the noise and dancing to someone else’s music,” Pichai said in an interview with Bloomberg.

“I've always been clear—we know what we need to do,” he noted, emphasising Google's strong internal vision. When asked if that means he's listening to his own music, Pichai replied, “That’s exactly right.”

Nadella had commented on Google’s dominance in search, acknowledging the company’s longstanding lead. But with the launch of AI-powered Bing, Nadella saw a shift in the competitive landscape.

“We competed today. Today we brought more competition to search,” Nadella said.

“I’ve been waiting 20 years for this.” He acknowledged Google’s scale, saying, “They’re still the 800-pound gorilla in search.”

Nadella added pointedly: “I hope that, with our innovation, they’ll come out and show they can dance. And I want people to know—we made them dance. That would be a great day.”

Even at that time, Pichai acknowledged the broader competitive dynamic in tech: “There's always intense competition in this industry. The way to stay ahead is through relentless innovation.”