Google timeline, 2020–2024
The pandemic changed Google's work and routine, to the point of suspending its April Fools' pranks. In 2020 the U.S. government filed its largest antitrust case against the company, decided in 2024. From 2023 generative AI became the center of its strategy: Bard, Google DeepMind, Gemini and AI answers in Search. In 2024, AlphaFold earned two Google DeepMind scientists a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
2020
- Google Museum
Event › April FoolsThe year Google called off April Fools' Day (2020)
March 2020 — Twenty years after MentalPlex, Google suspended its April Fools' pranks.
- Google Museum
Event › Browsers and platformsApple and Google team up against COVID-19 (2020)
April 2020 — Apple and Google, makers of iOS and Android, announced joint work: first, interfaces so official public health apps could work on both Android and iOS, starting in May 2020; then the technology built into the systems themselves, on an opt-in basis.
- Google Museum
Product or service › Productivity and educationG Suite becomes Google Workspace (2020)
October 6, 2020 — Google's paid productivity suite took the name Google Workspace and new icons for Gmail, Drive, Docs and Meet.
- Google Museum
Event › Search and discoveryThe U.S. government sues Google over its search monopoly (2020–2024)
October 20, 2020 — On October 20, 2020 the U.S.
2021
- Google Museum
Event › HardwareGoogle completes its purchase of Fitbit (2021)
January 14, 2021 — On November 1, 2019 Google announced the purchase of Fitbit, maker of fitness bands and watches, for $7.35 per share in cash, about $2.1 billion.
2022
No record documented for this year so far.
2023
- Google Museum
Product or service › AI and researchBard, Google's chatbot that became Gemini (2023–2024)
February 6, 2023 — On February 6, 2023 Sundar Pichai introduced Bard, an experimental conversational AI service built on the LaMDA model, first for a group of testers.
- Google Museum
Organization › AI and researchDeepMind and Google Brain merge into Google DeepMind (2023)
April 20, 2023 — Nine years after buying DeepMind, Google combined the British lab and the Brain team from Google Research into a single unit called Google DeepMind, led by Demis Hassabis.
- Google Museum
AI model › AI and researchGemini 1.0, the first Gemini model (2023)
December 6, 2023 — Introduced by Sundar Pichai and Demis Hassabis, Gemini 1.0 was described as Google's largest and most capable AI model, multimodal from the ground up.
2024
- Google Museum
Product or service › Search and discoveryAI Overviews, AI-generated answers in Search (2024)
May 14, 2024 — After being tested in Search Labs, AI Overviews, AI-generated summaries at the top of the results page, began reaching all U.S.
- Google Museum
Event › AI and researchAlphaFold earns Hassabis and Jumper the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2024)
October 9, 2024 — On October 9, 2024 Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis and John Jumper shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with David Baker.